TEXAS, USA — Welcome to Week 5 of the college football season, we're glad you made it!
Last week, we saw some interesting outcomes with our Texas teams. Specifically what happened in the "Iron Skillet" game between bitter rivals SMU and TCU -- but we'll get to that in a bit.
We've now arrived at Week 5, and that means it's officially conference play time for the vast majority of teams. Now that the cupcakes are out of the way -- relatively speaking -- we can really start to figure out how good these teams are.
Three members of WFAA's digital team: Ryan Osborne, Paul Livengood and Zachary Yanes, put their heads together to rank each of the FBS programs in Texas ahead of Week 5.
WFAA's Texas Football Rankings for Week 5:
No. 1 Texas Longhorns (4-0)
Paul Livengood: The Longhorns continue to roll. With backup Arch Manning at the helm in his first start, UT dominated once again, winning by nearly 50 points for the third time in four games. Texas is not only the best team in the state, but in the country right now.
- Paul Livengood - 1
- Ryan Osborne - 1
- Zach Yanes - 1
No. 2 Texas A&M Aggies (3-1)
Ryan Osborne: The fall-off from No. 1 to the rest of these rankings is STEEP. I guess the Aggies get credit for actually winning, despite struggling against Bowling Green. I don't know, this just feels like the same Texas A&M squad we saw during Jimbo Fisher's tenure. Bad offense, solid defense, and nothing comes easy.
- Paul Livengood - 2
- Ryan Osborne - 2
- Zach Yanes - 2
No. 3 SMU Mustangs (3-1)
Zachary Yanes: This was an "Iron Skillet" to remember for SMU and certainly one to forget for TCU. The Mustangs came out the gates swinging as they hopped up to a quick 17-point lead. At one point during the second quarter, it was a three-point game, but SMU refused to let up or stall out and ultimately dropped a mighty 66 points on the Horned Frogs. While I'm not 100% confident in this SMU squad as they enter ACC play, this game was a reminder that they can strike fast and often.
- Paul Livengood - 3
- Ryan Osborne - 3
- Zach Yanes - 4
No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-1)
Ryan Osborne: Here we were questioning the Joey McGuire Era in Lubbock, and the Red Raiders are 3-1 and, more importantly, 1-0 in Big 12 play after a win over Arizona State. This was a solid win over a solid opponent, and Tech got a strong performance on the ground from Tahj Brooks, who rushed for 117 yards.
- Paul Livengood - 4
- Ryan Osborne - 4
- Zach Yanes - 3
No. 5 Texas State Bobcats (2-1)
Paul Livengood: The bye week for the Bobcats didn't do them any favors this week in the rankings. Tech beat their only common opponent and SMU just dismantled the TCU squad I had ranked above Texas State in the last ranking. My personal feelings aside — I think the Bobcats would beat both of those teams head-to-head — I have to remain objective with the information I have. And that would slot Texas State fifth in the rankings at this point, in my opinion.
- Paul Livengood - 5
- Ryan Osborne - 5
- Zach Yanes - 5
No. 6 Baylor Bears (2-2)
Zachary Yanes: I was SO close to being right about Baylor this past weekend. The Bears really stepped up to the plate in a hostile environment against Colorado, but ultimately fell short in overtime. While it's extremely apparent that the Bears still have issues schematically, i.e., giving up a Hail Mary at the end of the game to force OT, they showed that they have the ability to play hard, which is something you wouldn't necessarily expect from a team under their circumstances. This is why I believe they will be a scrappy team throughout the remainder of the season.
- Paul Livengood - 7
- Ryan Osborne - 6
- Zach Yanes -6
No. 7 TCU Horned Frogs (2-2)
Ryan Osborne: What an absolute embarrassment for TCU, Sonny Dykes and everyone else involved with the program. Seriously. The blown-lead loss to UCF the week before was bad enough, but to follow that up with an absolute drubbing to your crosstown rival? And most notably, a rival that you're opting out of playing in the future? Saturday had to be a low point in TCU's program over the last 25 years, and that's not a hyperbole. What's more frustrating is that the Horned Frogs have an answer at quarterback – Josh Hoover is a budding star – and yet they can't seem to field a competitive defense, and that's after firing last year's coordinator and bringing in Andy Avalos. It seems nothing has gone right since TCU beat Michigan in the College Football Playoff. The championship game against Georgia was a blowout. Last year's season opener was the beginning of Deion-mania. And the rest of 2023 was a 5-7 trip of frustration. In fact, since TCU's win over Michigan in that playoff game – the biggest win in school history, arguably – the Frogs are 7-10 under Sonny Dykes and seemingly going nowhere fast. This is beginning to feel like the Ed Orgeron stint at LSU – a magical run, followed by a quick descent.
- Paul Livengood - 6
- Ryan Osborne - 10
- Zach Yanes - 7
No. 8 UTSA Roadrunners (2-2)
Zachary Yanes: The Roadrunners put on a dominant performance last week over Houston Christian, beating the Huskies 45-7. This was the final tune-up game before beginning AAC play against ECU this weekend and it was one where the Roadrunners looked pretty decent. I'm not getting my hopes up. It's been a rough start, so maybe they'll be able to get a quality conference win on the road against the Pirates, but we shall see.
- Paul Livengood - 9
- Ryan Osborne - 7
- Zach Yanes - 8
No. 9 North Texas Mean Green (3-1)
Paul Livengood: For right now, UNT looks like a team that's going to light up the scoreboard against bad teams, but not show up against good/decent teams. Or maybe they just had a bad day against Tech and they're better than we think? TBD, I guess.
- Paul Livengood - 8
- Ryan Osborne - 8
- Zach Yanes - 9
No. 10 Sam Houston Bearkats (3-1)
Zachary Yanes: The Bearkats are off to a solid start and they have the chance to keep it going as they host Texas State this weekend. A win over the Bobcats could launch Sam Houston up these rankings, but that will be quite the test. After that, the Bearkats' schedule is looking incredibly manageable.
- Paul Livengood - 10
- Ryan Osborne - 9
- Zach Yanes - 11
No. 11 Houston Cougars (1-3)
Paul Livengood: The Cougs have had a much tougher start to the season than these other teams. UNLV has emerged as a fringe top-25 team, Oklahoma is definitely a top-25 team at least and Cincinnati is a solid conference opponent as well. But you are still 1-3 and that still holds weight.
- Paul Livengood - 11
- Ryan Osborne - 11
- Zach Yanes - 10
No. 12 Rice Owls (1-3)
Ryan Osborne: The Owls weren't competitive against Army. When you're not competitive against a service academy, it's simply not your year.
- Paul Livengood - 12
- Ryan Osborne - 12
- Zach Yanes - 12
No. 13 UTEP Miners (0-4)
Paul Livengood: The only winless team on the list. 'Nuff said.
- Paul Livengood - 13
- Ryan Osborne - 13
- Zach Yanes - 13
