TEXAS, USA — What if I told you it was Week 7 of the college football season -- would you believe me?
This season is flying by, and this weekend looks to be one of the best slates on paper as we have marquee matchups across the board. But we're here to discuss our Texas teams, who have their own big-time matchups to prepare for.
So, without further ado...
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 7.
WFAA's Texas Football Rankings for Week 7:
No. 1 Texas Longhorns (5-0)
Paul Livengood: The Longhorns reclaimed their No. 1 spot in the nation — let alone in the Lone Star State — during their bye amid a massive Bama upset. Texas is the only undefeated team on this list and has a Texas-sized matchup coming up with the Sooners coming to Dallas. It'll be the first SEC Red River Rivalry, and it's sure to be a blockbuster. Get out your popcorn and Fletcher's Corny Dogs, folks.
- Paul Livengood - 1
- Ryan Osborne - 1
- Zach Yanes - 1
No. 2 SMU Mustangs (5-1)
Ryan Osborne: Texas A&M should probably be in this spot, but I have to stand up for the Mustangs. What an entrance to the ACC for Rhett Lashlee's SMU team. A blowout win over Florida State (albeit a bad Seminoles team), followed up by a road win over a ranked Louisville squad. And Dallas' own Kevin Jennings is leading the squad at quarterback. SMU has a legitimate chance to make the College Football Playoff if they keep playing like this and stay atop the ACC.
- Paul Livengood - 3
- Ryan Osborne - 2
- Zach Yanes - 2
No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies (5-1)
Zachary Yanes: The Aggies whomped Missouri, who was a top-10 team -- allegedly. To be fair, this is the first game that I think the Aggies have looked totally put together. I feel as though they are consistently just doing enough to get by, but this last win really showed what they can do when they are clicking. That being said, there are some hungrier teams out there, e.g., the SMU Mustangs.
- Paul Livengood - 2
- Ryan Osborne - 3
- Zach Yanes - 3
No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-1)
Paul Livengood: The Red Raiders have been scoring a ton of points at home this season, but did not perform in their road games ... Until last Saturday. Texas Tech kept the ball rolling with a hard-fought road win against Arizona. Now, they host the Baylor Bears in Lubbock. Tech is averaging 44.0 points per game at home. Will that offensive prowess continue?
- Paul Livengood - 4
- Ryan Osborne - 4
- Zach Yanes - 4
No. 5 Sam Houston Bearkats (5-1)
Ryan Osborne: The Bearkats kept rolling with a blowout win at winless UTEP. And again, I ask the question: What do we do with an 11-1 Sam Houston team at the end of the season? We put them in the playoffs, that's what we do.
- Paul Livengood - 5
- Ryan Osborne - 5
- Zach Yanes - 5
No. 6 Texas State Bobcats (3-2)
Paul Livengood: The Bobcats rebounded from an embarrassing blown loss to Sam Houston with a dominant first Sun Belt conference game in 2024 against Troy. Texas State played in their second mid-week primetime game of the season and walked away with an easy win over the Trojans. Next up is a date with Arkansas State in San Marcos.
- Paul Livengood - 6
- Ryan Osborne - 7
- Zach Yanes - 6
No. 7 North Texas Mean Green (4-1)
Zachary Yanes: This weekend will serve as the Mean Green's final chance to tune things up before entering a gauntlet through the top of the AAC. Following this week's matchup against FAU, UNT will have to face Memphis, Tulane and Army as their next opponents. Win at least two of those games and they could see themselves float to the top of their conference standings.
- Paul Livengood - 7
- Ryan Osborne - 6
- Zach Yanes - 7
No. 8 Houston Cougars (2-4)
Paul Livengood: The Cougs have spent a significant amount of time near the bottom of this list, but came out of Fort Worth with a win none of us expected. The performance against TCU, combined with how they played against ranked Oklahoma in Norman, shows they have what it takes to compete with some of the top dogs, even if they don't win 'em all.
- Paul Livengood - 8
- Ryan Osborne - 9
- Zach Yanes - 8
T-No. 9 Baylor Bears (2-4)
Ryan Osborne: The Bears just aren't very good right now. And they may not have many chances to get a win down the stretch. Maybe against an equally bad TCU team?
- Paul Livengood - 10
- Ryan Osborne - 8
- Zach Yanes - 10
T-No. 9 TCU Horned Frogs (3-3)
Ryan Osborne: Bad, bad, bad. And more bad. Just a miserably embarrassing performance for TCU, and that's surprising in the sense that it somehow topped the bad loss to SMU a couple of weeks earlier. Houston hadn't scored in 20-plus drives before stepping on the field at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Then they proceeded to put up a 30 spot in a game that was never really close. The end of the Sonny Dykes era might be near, and that's truly shocking considering where he took the Horned Frogs just two seasons ago.
- Paul Livengood - 9
- Ryan Osborne - 10
- Zach Yanes - 9
No. 11 UTSA Roadrunners (2-3)
Zachary Yanes: This was a great weekend! I didn't have to watch my alma mater disappoint me! The Roadrunners were on a bye week and will return to the gridiron in Houston this weekend to face the struggling Rice Owls.
- Paul Livengood - 11
- Ryan Osborne - 11
- Zach Yanes - 11
No. 12 Rice Owls (1-4)
Paul Livengood: Opportunity to climb the rankings with a matchup against UTSA.
- Paul Livengood - 12
- Ryan Osborne - 12
- Zach Yanes - 12
No. 13 UTEP Miners (0-5)
Zachary Yanes: Getting a bit ahead of myself here, but there's a possibility we could get a winless UTEP and a winless Kennesaw State matchup next month. Until then -- the road isn't getting any easier for the Miners.
- Paul Livengood - 13
- Ryan Osborne - 13
- Zach Yanes - 13
