With just NC game left which wont change final rankings for everyone else, interesting to see where Texas ends year. I am guessing somewhere from 9-12 depending on how far UCF, Michigan, Washington, and Penn State fall and whether the Horns can leapfrog Kentucky and Wazzou.
I think winning against Georgia is far more important than the final ranking in a couple of polls. That's what will resonate and be remembered.
Agree; but the final ranking for a young team is important for the rankings next season. The higher the better on the last one because that goes a long way of determining the ranking on the first 2019 ranking in the fall. Hard to come up to the top if you are buried in the mid-teens and below.
I think that statement is absolutely correct but the final ranking will still be important for two reasons, number one as Viper said above it will impact next year's starting rank but number two for recruits it shows a demonstrable national status particularly when you can sell coming to play for a top ten program. Early signing period changes a lot of the calculation but as they go into the homes of the last 5-6 recruits for this class selling a top ten finish and a likely top ten start to next year will be significant.
The top 4 remain the same regardless of the 2 losses. 3 other top 11 teams won. There's 7 teams above us. 13 and 14 won. Georgia, Michigan and UCF have better records, though UCF might drop. I'm guessing 10th +or- 1
Obviously we are #3 after beating the 2nd best team in the SEC. Why should we be lower than OU? The refs and injured QB were primarily responsible for that loss. I could live with #4 behind Ohio St.
Athlon projections. 1) Bama 2) Clemson 3) Georgia 4) OUsucks 5) tOsu 6) Texas 7) Florida 8) Michigan 9) LSU 10) aggy https://athlonsports.com/college-football/way-too-early-top-25-college-football-rankings-2019
This makes sense. The way the SECSEC dominated the bowl season this year, why wouldn't they have 5 of the top 10 in the preseason?
Ohio state finished 13-1 with just the October loss to Purdue and beat a top 10 Washington in the bowl game. That’s a better record than GA and OU. ND looked bad in the CFP loss to Clemson but still went 12-1 so I don’t see them dropping out of the top 10. They had a very good season overall. The Pirate went 11-2 at WSU and won their bowl game. No love for them? Michigan ended at 10-3 but finished poorly with the big loss to tOSU and then Florida in the bowl game so I can see us above them because of that.
I think some of y'all are missing, like I did at first, that is their 'way too early top 25 rankings 2019", not their projection on the final 2018 poll.
I hope and think top 10. Maybe #10. I think the ranking is important. Herman and Co are recruiting against OU, aggie, and LSU for most Texas recruits. LSU and aggie use their SEC shtick - come play in the SEC and play for a national championship. OU has the narrative of the only Big12 team to play in the CFP. The new Texas narrative shouldn't just be that the team is headed in the right direction. It should be that we are an elite team. We not only beat the SEC runner up (and won the RRS), but we are a top 10 team. Saying top 10 team in 2018 sounds like you are very close to a national championship or at least CFP. Saying top 12 just doesn't have the same ring to it.
I would guess we finish this year ranked # 9. After the beatdown the team administered to Georgia we have earned a top 10 ranking, imo.
I think we finish in the top 10, but 4 losses will scare away some voters....too many voters just scan the W-L record and plug teams in accordingly. But, Texas just might sneak in with GA SB game being the final bowl before CFP NC game. It’s 50/50!
How I'd rank 'em if I were in media: 1. Clemson/Bama winner 2. " Loser 3. Ohio State 4. Oklahoma 5. Florida 6. Notre Dame 7. LSU 8. Georgia 9. Texas 10. Washington State 11. Michigan 12 Washington
Maybe I dreamed we beat Georgia on a neutral field and Michigan was destroyed in its final two games?
Georgia only lost one regular season game. Draw. your own list if you like. It's inevitable that you will rank some teams above teams that have beaten them.
Florida lost to Kentucky, Mizzu and Georgia. LSU blew out Georgia, lost to Aggy and Fl. Texas destroyed Georgia and beat OU.
After the regular season, Ohio State and Oklahoma had the same record and the majority opinion seemed to be that OU should be higher because they lost to a pretty good Texas team by 3 while tOSU lost to a mediocre Purdue team by 29. After that, the main difference seems to be that Alabama was a much tougher opponent than Washington. So there's a case for keeping OU ahead at least.
Texas lost to Maryland (5-7), Oklahoma State (7-6), and West Virginia (8-4). And OU (12-2). The argument, "Team X lost to a top 10 team and we recently beat one!" is leaving out a lot of critical information. We had a good year, and so did a few other teams. Perhaps even better.
I bristled a bit at GA being ranked ahead of us. I’d reverse those two. That was until I looked again at Georgia’s brutal non-conference schedule.
If Georgia had not scored their last TD the full effect of Texas' domination would have pushed Texas to 8 and Georgia to 9. Georgia losing to Alabama now looks like Texas losing to Maryland.
I can’t complain about our top 10 ranking with 4 losses, ahead of 11-2 WSU and a few 3-loss teams. Tom Herman has us trending in a very positive direction in his second year, making Texas an attractive recruiting destination again.