TEXAS SCHOOLS ROUND UP
Week 2 football rankings for the 12 Division 1 colleges in Texas
Sep 5, 2019, 6:56 am
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12. RICE
The season didn't start off great for Rice, with a close loss to Army 14-7. There wasn't a lot of expectations on this team, coming off of a two win season last year means they don't need to do a lot to show improvement and Army is on a much better trajectory right now than they are, so a close loss is close to a moral victory, right? Maybe. They have Wake Forest this week and it's another game they aren't expected to win, but hey keeping it close would be a great first step for this program.
11. TEXAS STATE
After a brutal opener on the road against ranked Texas A&M, Texas State while maybe not as bad as the eleventh team in the state, is on the mat looking up. They do have the luxury of playing Wyoming who just came off an exciting, emotional win over Missouri and they are at home. So it's a long flight to play a team who just lost and the whole flight Wyoming has got to be thinking this will be an easy game. So there's a chance this is the only week Texas State is this low.
10. UTEP
Coming off a win they should get 10 out of 10 times against Houston Baptist, when teams do what they're supposed to do you don't punish them by moving them down the rankings. This week they're playing in Lubbock against Texas Tech so if this were a stock, I'd be selling this weekend. Hard.
9. UTSA
University of Texas San Antonio beat Incarnate Word so they're in basically the same boat as UTEP. They won when they should and now they're playing a school that should beat them, in this case Baylor. Also in this case, the game is on the road in a loud, hostile stadium and the road team isn't expected to win by anyone.
8. SMU
On the road against what is probably a team as equally as talented as they are, they won. If there's one team this week that is in a position for an upset, from this list, it's SMU playing North Texas this weekend. North Texas is a little better than SMU and while it wouldn't be a huge upset, I'm saying from the perspective of this list it would be one. This is an important game for both of these programs this week.
7. TEXAS TECH
So I don't believe in punishing a team for beating teams you're supposed to beat but I'm also not in the business of rewarding teams that win when they're supposed to either. This week they're playing UTEP at home and again they're expected to win, so while winning won't lower them, it won't exactly raise them in the rankings either.
6. NORTH TEXAS
Put up 51 points against Abilene Christian last weekend and this week they're playing on the road at SMU. The expectations for the season aren't sky high but they are absolutely expected to beat SMU, who while they are talented, aren't putting this kind of points on the board coming off a close game last weekend.
5. BAYLOR
They took care of business in what should be called a warm up game against Stephen F Austin. This week the fine tuning should continue against UTSA, this isn't projected to be a close game and really Baylor is in a lose-lose situation. If they win, it isn't like this would move them up at all, but if they lose it's going to hurt their whole season.
4. HOUSTON
This Oklahoma game came too early in the season for Houston, fresh off the Major Applewhite experiment, there just hasn't been enough time to convince this team that they aren't the train wreck they were last year. From this loss against dark horse Heisman hopeful Jalen Hurts, Houston now gets the chance to start building positive momentum against Prairie View.
3. TCU
Beating monsters of the world Arkansas-Pine Bluff, TCU should feel like a team that is ready for real football to start. However they're off this week so, check back next week for these guys.
2. TEXAS A&M
After taking care of business against Texas State, they're now ready to go into Clemson and see if they can knock off the defending National Champions. There are expectations on this team and with Texas playing LSU the battle for Texas supremacy is winnable if A&M can beat Clemson there's a good chance Texas will lose to LSU. So either A&M can take the reins or things stay pat if they both lose.
1. TEXAS
They got in their warmup game against LA Tech so now they're ready for LSU right? This is one of the two must watch games this weekend and all eyes will be on this match up. We'll see where everything shakes out after this game.
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Someone finally pushed back against media’s anti-Houston Texans agenda
May 23, 2024, 6:47 pm
The Astros need to whip up on the Oakland A’s this weekend in California as they did in sweeping four from them last week at Minute Maid Park. That was the start of a homestand which ended up with seven wins in 10 games. That goes down as a successful homestand, especially since it felt like the Astros’ prior winning homestand came while Donald Trump was President (it actually started in late July). Still, 7-3 doesn’t feel like a smashing success with it ending by dropping two of three games to the lowly Los Angeles Angels.
It is not exactly with bated breath that anyone should be waiting on Jose Abreu’s return to the lineup, but it’s coming. It should not be on this road trip. After the three games with the A’s the Astros move up the coast for a big four game set with American League West leading Seattle. The M's start all right-handed pitchers. That is no time to sit Jon Singleton to see if Abreu has managed to pump a few drops of gas into his tank while spending the better part of this month at the Astros’ minor league complex. It’s not as if Singleton has been stellar since Abreu’s departure, but by comparison, he’s been Lou Gehrig-esque. The series with the Mariners isn’t make or break but the Astros are strongly advised to get at least a split. That it should be Framber Valdez starting the opener Monday night doesn’t breed tremendous confidence, coming off his meltdown outing against the Angels. Another start, another opportunity.
The Mariners are at the Nationals this weekend, starting it a mere four and a half games ahead of the Astros. In four of the five other divisions the Astros' 22-28 record would have them at least 10 games off the lead.
One step forward, two steps back
Speaking of washed-up first basemen, Joey Votto should be a future Hall of Famer. The 40-year-old Canadian is trying to make it back to the big leagues via the minor leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays. Votto was an absolutely tremendous player with the Cincinnati Reds. As the Beastie Boys said, “Ch-check it out.” Over Jeff Bagwell’s first ten seasons with the Astros he hit .305 with a .417 on-base percentage and .552 slugging percentage, yielding a phenomenal .970 OPS. Over Votto’s first ten full seasons with the Reds: .313/.429/.540 for an exactly phenomenal .970 OPS. Where am I going with this? Read on!
Votto had phenomenal strike zone and bat control. He turned 30 during the 2013 season. That year Votto had 581 at bats. He popped out to an infielder once the entire season. Alex Bregman turned 30 the third day of this season. Bregman popped out to the shortstop four times in the Angels series. So much for Bregman’s “knob past the ball” epiphany that saw him hit three home runs over two games last week. Going into the weekend Bregman has one hit in his last 23 at bats. His season stats continue to be pitiful: a .209 batting average and .607 OPS. Bregman has only struck out once in the 23 at bats of his latest deep freeze. It’s that so much of his contract is feeble. There is a lot of season left for Bregman to build up to decent numbers, but one-third of the regular season will be complete after the Astros play the Mariners Monday night.
While Bregman’s season to date has basically been one long slump, Jose Altuve is in a funk of his own. Since blasting a homer Monday, Altuve is hitless in 12 at bats. Mini-slumps happen to everybody but Altuve’s woes trace back farther. Over his last 15 games, Altuve is batting .175. He last had more than one hit in a game May 5. He’s also drawn just two walks over those 15 games. It’s tough to ever sit Altuve, but he’s probably playing a little too much. Altuve turned 34 earlier this month. He has started 48 of the Astros 50 games at second base. Mauricio Dubon should be getting a start per week at second (and probably another at third given Bregman’s level of play). Over a full season not playing the field once per week still means 135 starts. Altuve should mix in some more at designated hitter (he has just one DH game so far this season). Wear and tear is a real thing, players don’t grow less susceptible to it as they get to their mid-30s.
King Tuck
On the flip side, Kyle Tucker! So far this season, he’s making himself as much money as Bregman is costing himself. Only Shohei Ohtani (1.069) starts the weekend action with an OPS higher than Tucker’s 1.060. The law of averages dictates that Tucker won’t finish as high as 1.060, but if he does, it would be the greatest full-length season offensive performance in Astros’ history. Jeff Bagwell posted an absurd 1.201 OPS in the strike-shortened 1994 campaign. Yordan Alvarez came in at 1.067 in his 87 games played rookie season of 2019. Lance Berkman’s 2001 was a monster. Enron Field was more hitter-friendly then than Minute Maid Park is now, but Berkman’s numbers were “Oh My Gosh!” spectacular. .331 batting average, 55 doubles (second in franchise history to Craig Biggio's 56 in 1999), 34 homers, .430 on-base percentage, .620 slugging percentage, and 1.051 OPS. And that was just Berkman’s second full season in the majors. Lance finished fifth in National League Most Valuable Player Award voting. Giant-headed Barry Bonds won MVP with his 73 home runs among other sicko stats.
* 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.