FORT WORTH, Texas — Year in and year out, we hear it: Is Texas back?????
It's an inevitable trap we fall victim to any time the Longhorns win a few games in a row each college football season.
But, newsflash, UT fans: You're not, and the numbers show it. At least not yet, anyway.
And to be back, well, you've got to prove it.
Texas hasn't done that.
Texas has won 10-plus games only once since 2010. In the past 12 seasons, the only season UT had in which it registered 10 or more wins was the program's "we're baaaaack" 10-4 campaign in 2018. But here's a zoomed-out look at UT's resume since 2010:
- An overall 88-70 (.556) record
- Four different head coaches
- A 6-2 bowl record in four Alamo Bowls, two Texas Bowls, a Holiday Bowl and the aforementioned Sugar Bowl (not exactly the creme de la creme of bowl games)
- Zero Big 12 championships, and just one Big 12 Championship Game appearance in the five seasons since it came back in 2017
Three games into this season, with two wins and a one-point loss to Alabama, Texas was "back" yet again. Since then, they've managed to drop games to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State while, to their credit, shutting out rival Oklahoma for the first time in nearly 60 years. Still, it's the same old song and dance: Lo and behold, there the Longhorns are once again, hopping in and out of the Top 25, just like every other year.
But, see, there's another Lone Star State college football team that might actually be back after a few down seasons. It's a program that has had much more success in the recent past than Texas, too.
This season, TCU has been on a roll, starting the Sonny Dykes era undefeated and leaping all the way up to the No. 7 in the AP Top 25 Poll as of this week.
For kicks, let's also take a look at TCU's resume since 2010:
- An overall 105-53 (.664) record
- Two different head coaches (Former SMU coach Sonny Dykes is currently in his first season at the helm after longtime coach Gary Patterson left the program last year)
- A 6-2 bowl record -- across two "New Years Six" bowls (Rose Bowl in 2010 and Peach Bowl in 2014), two Alamo Bowls, a Cheez-It Bowl, a Liberty Bowl, a Poinsetta Bowl and a Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
- One Big 12 championship (co-champs with Baylor in 2014) and one Big 12 championship game appearance in 2017.
The Horned Frogs have a legit chance to run the table in the Big 12 this year. Sure, the Longhorns may stand in TCU's way, with a bout scheduled for Nov. 12, but there's plenty of reason to buy into the hype out in Fort Worth.
Consider the fact that none of TCU's upcoming opponents (West Virginia, Texas Tech, Texas, Baylor and Iowa State) are ranked in the Top 25 as of this writing. With a remaining schedule like that, it's not unthinkable to envision the Horned Frogs hopping into the Big 12 Championship Game with an undefeated record. If do they win out and capture the Big 12 title, TCU will surely be in the conversation for a coveted College Football Playoff spot, too.
So, let's cut the "Texas is back" talk until -- like I said earlier -- they prove it. Maybe win a conference title. Perhaps just get in the conversation about reaching the playoff.
The Longhorns have talent, there's no denying that. Running back Bijan Robinson is incredible -- the real deal, for sure. And the team looks like a different group altogether when Southlake product Quinn Ewers is healthy. Let's not forget, either: QB prodigy Arch Manning -- yes, of those Mannings -- is headed to Austin next year, too.
But it takes more than a collection of individual talents to become be a powerhouse like Texas once was from 2001 to 2009, where they won 10-plus games every season.
Until then, let's stop crowning them king just to crown them.
Oh, and you Texas A&M fans nodding your heads and snickering as you're reading this: You're not much better than your burnt orange counterparts. All you've really got to your resume is a single 10-win season in 2012 (shout out Johnny Football) and perennial 9-4 or 8-5 seasons for almost 10 years and counting, with no SEC Championship game appearances to show for it.
At this point, the Horned Frogs are leaps and bounds above their competition for statewide supremacy.
See, unlike Texas, TCU is back. It doesn't take purple-colored glasses to see that much.
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