Texas FBS rankings week 11
The Cougars fall short in their chance to take their place as the No. 1 program in Texas
Nov 7, 2018, 5:45 am
Sam Ehlinger and the Longhorns kept the top spot. Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images
Texas has 12 FBS teams. Each week we rank them based on season-long performance, the prior game, and success relative to their competition. These are the updated rankings following Week 10 and looking forward to Week 11.
No. 12: Rice
For the first time this season a new team takes over as the worst FBS program in Texas. The Rice Owls have done so by losing to the UTEP Miners 34-26 this past weekend and now have failed to win a game since their victory in week 1.
No. 11: UTEP
While moving up to the eleventh ranked team in Texas may not be an impressive achievement it is reason to celebrate for a UTEP team who just saw their first win in almost two full years. The Miners most likely will not win another game this season, but at least they were able to break their winless curse.
No. 10: UTSA
The Roadrunners drop one spot in this week’s rankings after being dominated by UAB 52-3. UTSA has now lost their last three games and will head into a matchup against the 6-3 FIU Panthers that does not look promising.
No. 9: Texas State
Believe it or not by the Texas State Bobcats are on a two-game winning streak. The Bobcats took down Georgia State 40-31 to improve their record to 3-6. Texas State has a difficult task ahead of them in Week 11 when they face off with 6-2 Appalachian State. One bright spot that can be taken from this upcoming matchup is the fact that App State lost by 20 points to a Georgia Southern team that the Bobcats came just two points away from defeating in Week 7.
No. 8: TCU
For the second week in a row the Horned Frogs sit in the No. 8 spot. TCU squeaked by Kansas State last weekend in an unimpressive 14-13 victory. The Horned Frogs continue to struggle to find any dependable offensive production since the loss of quarterback Shawn Robinson but are glad to get back into the win column after suffering three straight losses. TCU will likely have little hope in their Week 11 matchup against No. 9 West Virginia.
No. 7: SMU
The Mustangs redeemed themselves after a heartbreaking overtime loss in Week 9 by notching a big win over the extremely talented Houston Cougars. SMU’s defense showed up in a big way last Saturday when they held star quarterback D’Eriq King to under 200 yards passing. The Mustangs should be able to collect their fifth win of the season this coming weekend as they go up against a very porous Connecticut team who has won just one game all year.
No. 6: Texas Tech
The Red Raiders were unable to move up from the No. 6 spot despite their very impressive performance against one of the best teams in the nation. Texas Tech came up just five points short against No. 6 Oklahoma which made it difficult to keep them idle in this week’s rankings. Despite the urges to reward Tech for their showing this past Saturday, it is hard to overlook the fact that they have lost their last two games. The Red Raiders will have another chance to make a statement in week 11 against the No. 19 Longhorns but will need quarterback Alan Bowman to stay on the field if they hope to complete the upset this time around.
No. 5: Baylor
Baylor jumped up to the Top 5 in this week’s ranking after a big win over Oklahoma State. The Bears were able to hold off the Cowboys 35-31 to collect their fifth win of the season, despite not even eclipsing 200 yards passing. Baylor has a big matchup against the 23rd ranked Iowa State Cyclones in Week 11 who have been on a four-game tear, dominating some of the top teams in the Big 12.
No. 4: UNT
North Texas moves up one spot after gathering their seventh win of the season. While UNT’s win over Rice was a seemingly unimpressive feat, the Mean Green were able to move up in this week’s rankings due to losses by some of the top tier teams on this list. UNT should be able to easily secure their eighth win in week 11 when they face off against the 2-7 Old Dominion Monarchs.
No. 3: Texas A&M
The Aggies suffered their second consecutive loss and fourth of the season in week 10 after falling to the Auburn Tigers 28-24. A&M was able to get back to their normal form offensively, but their defense continues to be their downfall. Unfortunately for Texas A&M the SEC is an extremely even conference this season as only one team has less than four wins and A&M has a dangerous matchup with a high flying Ole Miss offense in week 11. The Aggies now find themselves tip toeing the edge of relevance in the 2018 college football season.
No. 2: Houston
While the Cougars looked to have a promising opportunity to overtake the No. 1 spot in this week’s rankings, they blew their shot with a big loss to SMU. Houston had been one of the hottest and most exciting teams as of late, after going on an impressive five game winning streak. Luckily their loss did not cause them to fall in this week’s rankings because of losses by both Texas A&M and Texas Tech. The Cougars will line up against a sneaky Temple team in Week 11 and cannot afford to take another game for granted.
No. 1: Texas
The Longhorns lost in heartbreaking fashion in week 10 when West Virginia quarterback Will Grier threw a last-minute touchdown to steal the win out from under them. Despite their loss, UT was able to hold their title as the No. 1 team in Texas because of losses suffered by the next three teams in line to take over: Houston, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. The Longhorns will hope to bring an end to their two-game losing streak with a win against rival Texas Tech, who always puts up a good fight.
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There was a conversation Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell had during training camp, the topic being all the teams that were generating the most preseason buzz in the Eastern Conference. Boston was coming off an NBA championship. New York got Karl-Anthony Towns. Philadelphia added Paul George.
The Cavs? Not a big topic in early October. And Mitchell fully understood why.
“What have we done?” Mitchell asked. “They don't talk about us. That's fine. We'll just hold ourselves to our standard.”
That approach seems to be working.
For the first time in 36 seasons — yes, even before the LeBron James eras in Cleveland — the Cavaliers are atop the NBA at the 25-game mark. They're 21-4, having come back to earth a bit following a 15-0 start but still better than anyone in the league at this point.
“We've kept our standards pretty high,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “And we keep it going.”
The Cavs are just one of the surprise stories that have emerged as the season nears the one-third-done mark. Orlando — the only team still unbeaten at home — is off to its best start in 16 years at 17-9 and having done most of that without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero. And Houston is 16-8, behind only the Cavs, Boston, Oklahoma City and Memphis so far in the race for the league's best record.
Cleveland was a playoff team a year ago, as was Orlando. And the Rockets planted seeds for improvement last year as well; an 11-game winning streak late in the season fueled a push where they finished 41-41 in a major step forward after a few years of rebuilding.
“We kind of set that foundation last year to compete with everybody,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Obviously, we had some ups and downs with winning and losing streaks at times, but to finish the season the way we did, getting to .500, 11-game winning streak and some close losses against high-level playoff teams, I think we kind of proved that to ourselves last year that that's who we're going to be.”
A sign of the respect the Rockets are getting: Oddsmakers at BetMGM Scorebook have made them a favorite in 17 of 24 games so far this season, after favoring them only 30 times in 82 games last season.
“Based on coaches, players, GMs, people that we all know what they're saying, it seems like everybody else is taking notice as well,” Udoka said.
They're taking notice of Orlando as well. The Magic lost their best player and haven't skipped a beat.
Banchero's injury after five games figured to doom Orlando for a while, and the Magic went 0-4 immediately after he tore his oblique. Entering Tuesday, they're 14-3 since — and now have to regroup yet again. Franz Wagner stepped into the best-player-on-team role when Banchero got hurt, and now Wagner is going to miss several weeks with the exact same injury.
Ask Magic coach Jamahl Mosley how the team has persevered, and he'll quickly credit everyone but himself. Around the league, it's Mosley getting a ton of the credit — and rightly so — for what Orlando is doing.
“I think that has to do a lot with Mose. ... I have known him a long time,” Phoenix guard Bradley Beal said. “A huge fan of his and what he is doing. It is a testament to him and the way they’ve built this team.”
The Magic know better than most how good Cleveland is, and vice versa. The teams went seven games in an Eastern Conference first-round series last spring, the Cavs winning the finale at home to advance to Round 2.
Atkinson was brought in by Cleveland to try and turn good into great. The job isn't anywhere near finished — nobody is raising any banners for “best record after 25 games” — but Atkinson realized fairly early that this Cavs team has serious potential.
“We’re so caught up in like the process of improve, improve, improve each game, improve each practice," Atkinson said. “That’s kind of my philosophy. But then you hit 10-0, and obviously the media starts talking and all that, and you’re like, ‘Man, this could be something special brewing here.’”