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Ranking Texas' top 5 FBS college football coaches

Ranking Texas' top 5 FBS college football coaches
Gary Patterson has been winning football games for a long time. Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Texas college football has been a bit of a mishmash of late. Texas A&M has started well every year, then finished 8-4. Texas made a sexy coaching change, picking up Tom Herman and ditching Charlie Strong. Coach Development U. — aka, University of Houston — added Major Applewhite as the next potentially big thing. 

For our purposes, Applewhite does not make our list, since he is a first-time head coach. But he could easily move up fast. As of today, here are the top five coaches in Texas FBS college football:

5. Frank Wilson, UTSA

This might seem high, but he is a terrific recruiter whose team got better in year one as the season went on. They went 6-7 after a bowl loss, but he showed things were headed in the right direction. He already has a signature win over Baylor this year, and his name will come up for a lot of future jobs.

He just edges out David Bailiff of Rice, who has a better overall resume but his teams have fallen off a cliff this year, and Matt Ruhle of Baylor, who was terrific at Temple but has yet to show he can do it in Texas and in the Big 12.

4. Chad Morris, SMU

Morris was OC at Clemson and a hot commodity. He has found success at SMU, where it is nearly impossible to recruit. Expect his name to pop up for every big job out there over the next couple years.

3. Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M

Sumlin has been consistent at A&M, a program which had a hard time winning before he showed up. But this is a big year, and any regression might mean he is out of work. 

2. Tom Herman, Texas

Herman brought some magic to UH in two seasons, including a 13-1 mark and Peach Bowl win over Florida State. The team regressed slightly last year, but Herman was already eyeing the big prize in his mind: UT. Will he have success there? Would be shocking if he did not, although it might take more than a year or two. 

1. Gary Patterson, TCU

All he does is win. In 16 full seasons, he has only two losing seasons and one .500 year. He has 10 seasons with at least 10 victories, and a Rose Bowl win, things Herman may eventually accomplish, but has not yet. All at TCU — not exactly an A-list program. Will go down as one of the state's all-time best.

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The Astros are looking to avoid being swept at home. Composite Getty Image.

The Houston Astros are looking to avoid an unexpected sweep Wednesday night as they wrap up their three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians at Daikin Park.

Winners of six of their last ten despite back-to-back losses, the Astros (55-37) turn to left-hander Brandon Walter (1-1, 4.15 ERA) to steady the ship and salvage the finale. Walter has been reliable in his recent outings, and he’ll face a Guardians lineup that has struggled to string together hits, batting just .204 over their last 10 games.

Cleveland (42-48) entered the series on a 10-game losing streak, but now has a chance to sweep the AL West leaders and take the season series. Slade Cecconi (3-4, 3.56 ERA) gets the start for the Guardians. The 26-year-old righty has kept his ERA under 4.00 this year and will look to neutralize a Houston offense that leads the American League in batting average at .260 and is hitting .295 over the last 10 games.

All eyes remain on Jose Altuve, who has driven in 16 runs and slugged four homers over his last 10 games. He’s been the heartbeat of the Houston offense, while Isaac Paredes continues to deliver steady power at the top of the lineup. The Astros have scored five or more runs in eight of their last ten games, but the bullpen faltered late in both of the first two games of this series.

Cleveland counters with the steady presence of Carlos Santana and the always-dangerous Jose Ramirez. Though Ramirez is just 6-for-38 in his last 10 games, he’s delivered key home runs in the series and remains the Guardians’ biggest threat.

With the season series now 3-2 in favor of Cleveland, Wednesday’s matchup carries added weight for the Astros as they look to regroup and avoid letting momentum slip further. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET.

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -144, Guardians +121; over/under is 8 runs

Astros lineup for the finale

What stands out? First off, Jake Meyers returns to the lineup after missing a couple of games with a calf issue. With Meyers back in the two-spot, Cam Smith returns to hitting cleanup. Caratini is playing first base again and hitting fifth, followed by Yainer Diaz (C), Cooper Hummel (DH), Taylor Trammell (LF), and Mauricio Dubon (SS).

 

  Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.

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