I do not think that Baylor is the toughest of those opponents, but I think it will be the toughest game simply because we have had a LOT of trouble in Waco in December as of late. Also, Okie State might be tougher than OU this year but that is just way to early offseason speculation.
I was first going to vote TCU but changed it to ND. They will both be very tough on the road but ND is the opener so it got my vote. I think BU will be weakest of those 4 teams. Who did you vote for GodZ?
TCU is primed for a run to the playoffs, so I think that will be the toughest of the games this season.
I hopped on the Frogs. (Golly, sometimes I crack myself up!) You make a good point, but it's also nd's first game. It'll be a tough one, though.
I voted for the Irish only because there are so many questions going into the first game for this team. I don't think ND is the toughest team of the four listed (probably TCU?). The Horns have zero offensive identity at the moment. Got to hope we win a lot of low scoring, close games this year.
I voted TCU because they are the best team, most likely and it's on the road. I can understand voting Notre Dame because it's the opening game and there will be pressure on Texas to perform better after last season. Many adjustments will have been hopefully made and players playing for the first time. Also maybe playing new positions. Lots of new and untried, in a game situation, things going on. It's also a road game in a historic venue.
I'd say TCU is tougher than ND because kinks aren't worked out yet for either team in an opener, especially the rhythm on offense. Defenses are typically a little ahead of offenses at the start. The early offensive inconsistencies teams experience could help us getting our feet wet with new defensive starters. We may be out of sync on offense, but I assume they won't be lighting it up either. Lot of surprises come out of Week 1 when two pretty good teams play. TCU, the best team of the 4, will have some prior games to get their talented bunch playing at a high level. We may be better than we were Week 1, but TCU (the known better team) will be sound by then, and at their house.
I agree with this. We have a good chance against Notre Dame because its the first game of the year and neither team will completely have their act together yet. It increases the chances of a Texas upset. I'd rank the games from toughest to easiest like this: 1. @ Baylor (possible cold weather and we have lost two in a row there. I do think TCU and possibly Notre Dame have better teams than Baylor. If we played Baylor in Austin in the middle of the year, I would not have them #1 on my list.) 2. @ TCU 3. @ Notre Dame 4. Oklahoma State (I think they will be good this year. We played a young, injured team last year. They started to get players back and knocked off OU then Washington in their bowl game.) 5. OU (OU could be much higher on this list, I am just not sure how good they will be at this point. We should have beaten them last year as we beat them every which way but the scoreboard. We have statistically dominated them two years in a row. It will depend on whether Bob Stoops gets his act together again or if Stoops is really in decline. I hope we are seeing decline.) Had to edit because apparently we have users named "Notre Dame" and "TCU".
Baylor will be a tough game since it is there and as pointed out above, the weather could be bad. However, it will also depend on whether or not they are in the conference championship hunt. If they have lost a couple and are out of it, it will still be a tough game since it's Texas, but we may have a better shot to knock them off, which I want and expect us to do anyway.