Texas FBS rankings week 12

A spectacular touchdown catch in Lubbock keeps the Longhorns Big 12 title hopes alive

A spectacular touchdown catch in Lubbock keeps the Longhorns Big 12 title hopes alive
Sam Ehlinger had a big game. Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

No. 12: Rice

Things continue to get uglier for the Owls, who lost their tenth straight game in week 11 after falling to Louisiana Tech 28-13. This season has turned out to be an extremely disappointing start for new head coach Mike Bloomgren. At this point Bloomgren can only hope to get through the last two games and begin rebuilding hope for 2019.

No. 11: UTEP

After securing their first win of the season in Week 11, the Miners were brought back down to reality after getting defeated 48-32 by Middle Tennessee. UTEP’s offense is playing its best football of the season after two consecutive 30-point performances and will hope to overpower a 1-9 Western Kentucky team in week 12.

No. 10: UTSA

The Road Runners were dominated 45-7 by FIU in week 11 and now fall to 3-7 on the season. UTSA has failed to score more than 17 points in their last four games and will have a tough time getting things back on track against a strong Marshall team.

No. 9: Texas State

The Bobcats two game winning streak came to an abrupt ending after being handled by Appalachian State 38-7. Texas State probably won’t have much better luck in week 12 when they face off against the 8-2 Troy Trojans.

No. 8: TCU

The Horned Frogs fell two games below .500 with a loss to West Virginia last weekend. TCU has a difficult matchup with a dangerous Baylor team in week 12 but the Horned Frogs can hope that young quarterback Michael Collins will eventually find a groove in his fourth start of the season.

No. 7: SMU

While the Mustangs secured their fifth win of the season this past weekend, it was not a pretty one. SMU’s defense, who played well against one of the nation’s most dangerous quarterbacks in week 10, allowed the 1-9 Connecticut Huskies to score 50 points in Week 11. The Mustangs will face a talented Memphis team this coming weekend but could walk away with a third consecutive victory if they show up on both sides of the ball.

No. 6: Baylor

The Bears suffered a tough loss in week 11 in a chippy game with Iowa State. Both team’s emotions were running high as multiple shoving matches broke out throughout the game and two players were eventually ejected. The Bears have definitely adopted a new urgency and mentality this season and will hope to carry that into a big matchup with TCU this weekend. Look for the Bears to jump on the struggling Horned Frogs at home in Week 12.

No. 5: UNT

UNT was caught sleeping in Week 11 when they were upset by 3-7 Old Dominion. The Mean Green may have suffered a lapse in focus by looking ahead to their Week 12 matchup with Florida Atlantic. A season that began with so much promise and excitement is now in danger of becoming very underwhelming based on what this team was believed to be capable of accomplishing.

No. 4: Texas Tech

Despite suffering two straight losses the Red Raiders have displayed impressive performances against two of the best teams in the Big 12. Texas Tech fell just five points short of upsetting No. 6 Oklahoma and seven points away from defeating No. 13 Texas. Not to mention that the Red Raiders have been able to keep pace with these top tier programs without their starting quarterback Alan Bowman who has been plagued by injuries all season.

No. 3: Houston

With a 59-49 upset loss last weekend to Temple the Cougars seem to have lost their midseason momentum that nearly drove them to the No. 1 spot on this list. Because of the lackluster effort from the Cougar defense, an impressive performance in which quarterback D’Eriq King threw for 355 yards and 5 touchdowns along with 125 yards rushing with a touchdown was surprisingly not enough to hold off the Owls. Houston will look to redeem themselves in week 12 against an average Tulane team.

No. 2: Texas A&M

After two straight losses that forced Texas A&M out of the Top 25, the Aggies were able to get back in the win column in Week 11 against Ole Miss. A&M looked efficient on both sides of the ball as they put up over 500 yards of total offense and held the Rebels to 24 points. While on paper the Aggies week 12 matchup with UAB should be an easy victory, the 9-1 Blazers are an athletic team that could give Texas A&M a run for their money if they are not prepared. Texas A&M will look to build momentum with a second straight win before heading into their final game of the season vs. LSU.

No. 1: Texas

The Longhorns were lucky to escape Lubbock with a win week 11. The Red Raiders held the lead until Sam Ehlinger threw his fourth touchdown to strike the final blow with only 21 seconds remaining. While the UT defense continued to struggle for a third straight week, Ehlinger arguably had his best game of the season throwing for 312 yards and 4 touchdowns despite the absence of his top target Colin Johnson. The Longhorns have a difficult matchup in week 12 with the No. 18 Iowa State Cyclones who are in the middle of a five-game winning streak. Texas will need to have solid performances by both their offense and defense if they are going to hold off one of the hottest teams in the country.

 

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The Coogs are back in action Friday night. Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images.

Sixteen may be sweet, but it isn’t the only relevant number as the NCAA Tournament heads into the regional semifinals.

Here are some other numbers worth knowing for each team. These statistics will help you learn more about each of the remaining teams and could explain how some of them got this far.

EAST REGION

UCONN: In UConn’s second-round victory over Northwestern, Donovan Clingan became just the third player in tournament history to get 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks in a game. The others to do it were Hakeem Olajuwon for Houston in 1983 and David Robinson for Navy in 1986. The blocks also were the most ever by a UConn player in a tournament game.

SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs’ Sweet 16 matchup with defending national champion UConn will mark the fourth time that two teams have faced each other in the tournament a year after meeting in the final. The losing team from the championship won the rematch in one of the three previous instances, when Duke beat UNLV in a 1991 semifinal. Cincinnati won two straight championship games over Ohio State in 1961-62. Florida beat UCLA in the 2006 championship game and in a 2007 semifinal.

ILLINOIS: Illinois has won six in a row, and Terrence Shannon Jr. has scored at least 25 points in each of those games. The 6-foot-6 guard has averaged 30.5 points and has shot 52.8% (56 of 106) from the floor during that stretch. He also shown an uncanny knack for drawing fouls during the streak. Over his last five games, Shannon has gone 51 of 58 on free-throw attempts.

IOWA STATE: Iowa State is allowing just 61.2 points per game to rank fourth among all Division I teams in scoring defense. Since falling 73-65 to Houston on Feb. 19, the Cyclones haven’t allowed any of their last 10 opponents to exceed 65 points. The Cyclones next face Illinois, which ranks ninth in points per game (84.6) and has averaged 91.3 points over its last four contests.

WEST REGION

ALABAMA: Mark Sears and Aaron Estrada were the first set of Division I teammates since 1996-97 to both have at least 410 points, 125 assists, 120 rebounds, 50 3-point baskets and 40 steals during the regular season. Sears is averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals. Estrada has 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

NORTH CAROLINA: Armando Bacot had seven straight tournament double-doubles and six consecutive tourney games with at least 15 rebounds before he ended up with 18 points and seven boards in a second-round victory over Michigan State. His seven straight NCAA double-doubles matched Tim Duncan and Olajuwon for the NCAA record.

ARIZONA: Arizona’s first-round triumph over Long Beach State marked the 19th time this season the Wildcats had five different players score in double figures. No other Division I team had that many games this season in which five different players had at least 10 points.

CLEMSON: Each of Clemson’s first two tournament opponents has shot below 40% against the Tigers. Clemson won its first-round game by limiting New Mexico to 29.7% shooting, the lowest percentage the Tigers had ever allowed in an NCAA tourney game. Clemson now faces Arizona, which shot 52.8% in its second-round victory over Dayton.

MIDWEST REGION

CREIGHTON: Baylor Scheierman is the first Division I men’s player in history to have at least 2,000 career points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 3-point baskets. Scheierman, who is in his second season at Creighton after playing three seasons at South Dakota State, has 2,208 points, 1,250 rebounds, 578 assists and 352 3-pointers.

TENNESSEE: Tennessee is making its 10th Sweet 16 appearance – including its seventh in the last 18 years – but the Volunteers have never reached the Final Four and earned their lone regional final berth in 2010.

GONZAGA: Gonzaga is in the Sweet 16 for the ninth straight time, the longest active streak of any Division I team. Going back to 1975 – the first year that all teams had to win at least one game to reach the Sweet 16 – the record for consecutive Sweet 16 appearances is owned by North Carolina with 13 straight from 1981-93.

PURDUE: Zach Edey is the first player since Kareen Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) in 1968 to have at least 50 points and 35 rebounds while shooting 65% from the field in his first two games of an NCAA Tournament. Edey has shot 67.9% (19 of 28) and has totaled 53 points and 35 rebounds in victories over Grambling State and Utah State.

SOUTH REGION

DUKE: Jared McCain has gone 10 of 17 from 3-point range through the first two rounds. In the Blue Devils’ second-round blowout of James Madison, McCain became the first freshman to score at least 30 points without committing a turnover in an NCAA Tournament game since the event expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

HOUSTON: The Cougars showcased their depth by surviving a second-round matchup with Texas A&M in overtime even after four of their five starters fouled out. They became the first team to win an NCAA game while having at least four players foul out since 1987, when UTEP overcame foul trouble to beat Arizona.

MARQUETTE: Marquette owns a 75-29 record under coach Shaka Smart despite posting a negative rebound margin in each of his three seasons. The Golden Eagles have been outrebounded in each of their last eight games but have gone 5-3. They’re getting outrebounded by 3 boards per game this season. The only other Sweet 16 team with a negative rebound margin is North Carolina State (minus-0.8), which faces Marquette on Friday.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE: Mohamed Diarra has 6.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season, but he’s averaged 11.7 points and 13.5 rebounds over his last six. Michael O’Connell scored in double digits three times and totaled 14 3-point baskets in 31 regular-season games. He’s reached double figures in six of seven postseason games and has gone 12 of 22 from 3-point range during that stretch.

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