RANKING THE STATE
Texas Div I Football Rankings: Texas falls as we have a new No.1
Oct 31, 2019, 8:30 am
Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!
12. RICE
They lost again, they keep losing, they keep losing by serious margins. At some point there have to be questions about how are the coaches preparing the players? How are the players feeling about this program? Are players going to want to come here? Is Rice now just a place poor but smart student-athletes go if they want a free but good education and can handle a little body trauma while they do it? The Thundering Herd come to town and probably leave town with an easy victory.
11. UTEP
More losing, and losing and losing. I know the expectations coming into the year were low but they couldn't have been this low. No one could have been looking at a schedule like this one and saying "wow, will we even win three games?" This is not a good campaign from this program. This week they travel to North Texas and I suppose are most excited about the travel back so they can get this season over with.
10. UTSA
I really labored with moving UTSA up on their off week because of how bad North Texas played, but honestly these guys are going to Kyle Field and will likely be right back in this spot next week. Now a win or even a close loss could do wonders for this program but it's likely going to be very much the other way with this and they lose big to the Aggies.
9. NORTH TEXAS
The 49ers beat them. North Texas was the first in conference win for Charlotte which I specifically said the Mean Green should avoid being (are they not reading this column?!). They do get to welcome UTEP to town so if ever there was a chance to bounce back from embarrassment, this is it. However, things could quickly get out of hand with another loss to what is considered an inferior opponent.
8. TEXAS STATE
After another loss, this time to Arkansas State, Texas State now gets to take on the role of spoiler for the rest of the season. They travel to Louisiana and face the Ragin' Cajuns who are still in first place in the West Division of the Sunbelt Conference. While in conference these teams are only one win apart in reality the Cajuns are 5-2 and looked good against Arkansas State two weeks ago and have a long time to sit and watch Texas State play a common opponent; not good news for the Bobcats.
7. TEXAS TECH
It turns out it was the good version of the Jayhawks last week and the Red Raiders didn't have enough to pull it out. Every loss makes the Baylor game matter less and less because it starts to become "well if you couldn't beat Iowa State and Kansas then it doesn't matter if you upset Baylor." This starts to become a doomed season no matter what which is a hard pill to swallow for a team that felt pretty good I bet earlier this year. This week they get to lick their wounds and make a list of reasons the season isn't over and try and finish strong.
6. HOUSTON
They lost but stayed competitive against SMU and it's more of a testament of what could have been than what is happening. Think about it, if they still had their star players, would they have lost the close games they dropped? Where could this season have taken them? But then again they were 1-3 when they did it, so maybe the season was lost for other reasons. They travel to Central Florida where I think the losses continue to add up for this program.
5. TEXAS A&M
So I broke a rule of mine this week and moved A&M down after winning because of who they beat, Mississippi State in comparison to who TCU beat, Texas. I think A&M is finally feeling good and playing great and will likely win again this week as UTSA comes to town. When they do, I'll come back to this, it's a lot more about what else happened this week than it is about how these guys performed. This will be revisited and I want to give full honesty about this, I feel bad, if it makes Aggies feel better of all these schools in Texas the ESPN Football Power Index has A&M the highest over TCU, Texas, SMU and Baylor tied with Washington at 15th in the country.
4. TCU
I was wrong about the Horned Frogs and I apologize. I said they might not win the rest of the year and then they pull away from Texas with 2 minutes left in the game and win by 10. It's a great win and they should feel awesome about it and it puts TCU back in the driver's seat for their season because just as much as I said they face a hard schedule, it means if they keep winning they can really make a year out of it. They travel to Oklahoma State where another win would be another awesome accomplishment.
3. TEXAS
Well last week was my last week making assumptions about this Texas team. It's time to face facts and admit they lost when they shouldn't have including this loss to TCU, bump them down and just move on. They have a month of football left starting next weekend and we'll see what they can make of what's left of their season. This is a big drop but look, SMU and Baylor have been winning and at some point they need to be rewarded for their record and Texas needs to take the hit for their losses.
2. SMU
They tried to screw it up but they managed to save the game and therefore their season and beat Houston. They enjoy the bump up to number 2 this week as much for Texas' failures as for their own successes. It honestly wasn't a great win over Houston and now they travel to Memphis where the oddsmakers are picking Memphis but it's close. That's odd to me because they have Temple in common and while SMU beat Temple soundly, Memphis actually lost close to Temple, making me think this is an SMU win but close.
1. BAYLOR
Baylor hosts West Virginia tonight and are hoping that all the Halloween scares happen off the field. This team is undefeated and playing good football but aren't getting a ton of love in the rankings being outside the Top Ten even though they are undefeated in a power five conference and behind six teams with at least one loss. Baylor does get the love here though, with all that winning putting them in the number spot in this week's rankings.
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96 games down, 66 games to go as the Astros tackle a fairly significant series in Seattle to open up the figurative second half of the season Friday night. It’s actually just over 40 percent of the schedule remaining. With the Astros having closed within one game of the Mariners in the American League West it’s the biggest series possible for them as the season resumes. But it’s not remotely make or break. Measuring by run differential the Astros should already be out front. They have outscored their opponents by 49 runs while Seattle is just plus-19. The actual standings can be explained in no small part by this comparison: in one-run games the Astros are a pitiful 7-17 while the Mariners are 19-14.
The spectrum of outcomes this weekend ranges from the Astros sweeping and leaving the Emerald City two games on top, to getting swept and heading down the coast to Oakland four games behind. Of note, the Mariners beat the Astros in five of the seven meetings to date this season. So if Seattle wins this series it clinches the season series and playoff tiebreaker should a spot come down to it. The Astros and Mariners have another series to come after this one, three games in Houston the final week of the regular season.
Trade deadline looming
What may be even more important than this weekend’s games is who gets what done between now and the July 30 trade deadline. With Justin Verlander clearly not close to returning, Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss both performance question marks, and both Ronel Blanco and Hunter Brown being asked to handle unprecedented workloads for them, the Astros’ rotation needs obvious fortification. The Mariners’ rotation is second to none in the American League and their bullpen is good. Seattle’s lineup is atrocious. The Chicago White Sox are on pace to be one of the worst teams of all-time. The ChiSox’ offense is a joke with a team batting average of .220. The Mariners’ team average is .219. Only the White Sox and pathetic Marlins are scoring fewer runs per game than the M’s.
The Mariners have 11 players with at least 100 at bats this season. Eight of them have an OPS of .690 or lower. Cal Raleigh has the highest at .734. The Astros have 12 guys with at least 100 at bats including Jose Abreu. Abreu, Chas McCormick, and Mauricio Dubon are the only .690 or worse OPS guys. Kyle Tucker is the Astros’ OPS leader by a significant margin, .979 to Yordan Alvarez’s .912. What’s that you ask? Who is this Kyle Tucker? 35 missed games and counting for “Tuck” with his leg bone bruise, with return not imminent. T-Mobile Park is a notably better pitchers’ park than is Minute Maid Park, but not enough to shrug off the Mariners’ offensive ineptitude. The Mariners team payroll is more than 100 million dollars below the Astros’ payroll. The Mariners have the clearly better farm system from which to deal. If Seattle doesn’t add offense, its ownership and front office will deserve a continued fade in the second half, on top of the Mariners’ 8-15 gimp into the All-Star break.
Don't forget about the Rangers
With the Astros and Mariners going at it this weekend with the division lead in the balance, a reminder that this is not a two-team race. The Texas Rangers rallying to take the final two games at Minute Maid Park last weekend sent up a flare that the reigning World Series Champions are definitely still in the picture. The Rangers sit four games behind the Astros, five back of the Mariners. If the Rangers manage to win their series in Arlington with the Orioles this weekend, they are guaranteed to gain ground on at least one team ahead of them. The Astros-Rangers season series sits tied at five wins apiece with three games left, it will be decided in Arlington the first week of August. The Rangers and Mariners play seven more times.
In broader view, as measured by opponents’ records, the Astros have the toughest remaining schedule among the three. Among the 30 big league clubs the Rangers have the fourth easiest slate left, the Mariners have the fifth easiest, the Astros have the 15th easiest. If the Astros ultimately are not to win the West, there is the Wild Card race to keep in mind. The Astros are seven games behind the Yankees, four behind the Twins, and three and a half back of the Red Sox. Those three currently hold the Wild Card spots. The Astros are also a game and a half behind the Royals. The Astros have already lost the season series and tiebreakers to the Yankees, Twins, and Royals. The Astros and Red Sox have all six of their meetings yet to come.
Remembering Ken Hoffman
This is my first column since the passing last Sunday of my friend and eventual colleague Ken Hoffman. I originally learned of Ken’s quirkiness and wit through his columns at the Houston Post. He was a big sports fan. Our friendship was driven in part by our shared passion for tennis. We played probably more than a thousand times over nearly 20 years. Tennis and baseball were Ken’s two favorite sports. His two favorite athletes were Roger Federer and Jose Altuve. Well, after he and his wife Erin’s son Andrew, who was a pitcher on Trinity University’s 2016 NCAA Division Three national championship-winning team.
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.