RANKING THE STATE

Texas Division I Football Rankings:

Texas Division I Football Rankings:

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12. UTEP

This wasn't their year and it ends even worse for these guys, losing to Rice. The Miners won one game over three months ago against Divison II Houston Baptist, and it's been a long season since then, but blissfully it's over.

11. RICE

Unbelievably we're here at the end of the season and Rice is sitting better here than they were at the end of the year last year. Improvement and growth is always the name of the game when you're bringing a program back from the dead and they did it here. Congrats Rice.

10. NORTH TEXAS

​Another week, another disappointing loss. While the odds were tilted slightly in favor of UNT, I didn't believe for a second this team would finish strong after losing to Rice last week. Honestly this is a program trending badly and trending in a bad direction, it would surprise me if there aren't talks of maybe changing play calling duties or coordinator responsibilities because what was working in the beginning is no longer working at all for these guys.

9. TEXAS STATE

This was a tough loss for a program that was trying to get right. Coming off the Appalachian State game where they weren't supposed to win at all, it's hard to believe this is a program that only a few weeks ago had managed to win big, but they had. Since then they've struggled to get leads and pull away from teams and this week was no different. A bad season is just good enough for fourth place in the Sun Belt West.

8. UTSA

That was a meaty loss to a better program. It's tough to be too critical of a program or say too many mean things when ultimately they weren't supposed to win this game or too many of the other ones they've been playing lately and perhaps it's time to re-evaluate where we consider The Roadrunners? Maybe next year, we'll start them much lower and just see how high they can rise.

7. TEXAS TECH

Well they certainly didn't come close to "getting" the Longhorns. A season that will be remembered for its close calls and almost wins ended on a heck of a thud with an old fashioned beating at the hands of Texas. Mercifully the season is over and The Red Raiders can stop looking back and thinking about what almost was.

6. HOUSTON

To score 41 in a loss has to be heartbreaking but to lose by 15 has to hurt a little more. Houston is now mercifully done, we'll see what happens with the redshirted quarterback now, we'll see what happens with this program coming into the off season. Will things start to trend a little better or is this rough season a sign of things to come under the new regime?

5. TCU

This is a confusing season for these guys, there's no way going 5-7 is a good feeling but considering how angry the back half of their schedule looked at one point, I think it's a good year. The loss to West Virginia isn't great but honestly there are some other games they should be more disappointed about. I think the Oklahoma game is a big one where there is some obvious disappointment. Yes they finished below .500 but they played good football at times and just managed to play bad football at the worst possible times.

4.  TEXAS

Well, well, well. Look who is feeling themselves again. The Longhorns haven't looked that good since they played Rice early on in the season. The desperately needed the win to clinch a winning season and now there are some people clamoring for a Academy Sports and Outdoors Texas Bowl between Texas and A&M which would be exciting but it's tough to gauge how Texas fans would handle losing this game considering how heartbreaking this season has been so far.

3. TEXAS A&M

Man that was a bad game against LSU. The Aggies have been defended all season long for the fact that their schedule is so tough, but in a lot of these games they've come up short. It's one thing to schedule the game but another to just go out there and play bad football. I still think their season is one worth celebrating but this kind of poor performance is not the thing to go out on.

2. SMU

This is the way you finish a season. The SMU Mustangs deserve all the accolades and kind words that can be said about them. They deserve all the great things and praise that are hopefully coming their way this off season. It's been a long road from the Death Penalty to here and it's worth celebrating. Congrats guys!

1. BAYLOR

Currently ranked ninth in the country and looking up at a top four that will likely only feature one SEC program this was the best chance for a program like Baylor to get into the dance. That one loss to Oklahoma isn't going to go away, record setting comeback in a situation where the win was needed. Now because of that one loss, the committees and voters don't have to put Baylor anywhere near the top 4.

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Rockets beat the Grizzlies, 119-115. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

Alperen Sengun had 32 points and 14 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets held on to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 119-115 on Thursday night in a showdown between two of the top teams in the Western Conference.

Jalen Green finished with 27 points and Fred VanVleet scored 22 as the Rockets won their third straight and solidified their hold on second place in the Western Conference, moving 1 1/2 games ahead of Memphis.

Ja Morant scored 27 points in his return from a five-game absence with a shoulder injury, and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 21 points, eight rebounds and six blocks for Memphis. Desmond Bane had 16 points.

Houston dominated the inside early, scoring 20 points in the paint before the halfway point of the first quarter. Memphis initially couldn't stop anything at the rim. Houston opened a 17-point lead before taking a 68-63 advantage at the break.

Takeaways

Rockets: Houston is 12-5 on the road, including six straight wins away from home.

Grizzlies: After allowing the Rockets to score inside and build a big lead, Memphis chipped into the advantage to make it a more competitive game.

Key moment

With 3.8 seconds left in the game and Houston leading 117-114, Bane fired up a 3-pointer that rattled in. But Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins called timeout before the shot was made. Bane was fouled on the ensuing inbounds, and Memphis wouldn't get another chance for a winning shot.

Key stat

Houston is 19-3 when they score at least 110. Houston hasn't allowed more than 115 points in past 15 games.

Up next

The Rockets are at Atlanta on Saturday. Memphis travels to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves on Saturday.

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