TEXAS, USA — It happened. It may have taken nine weeks, but it happened. There are no longer any undefeated FBS teams in Texas.
Through the last six to seven weeks of doing these rankings, the top three teams have been pretty solidified in their spots. However, now, it's looking like there could be some opportunities for growth as the Longhorns will look to recoup after suffering a beatdown in Austin at the hands of Georgia.
Can they do it? We shall see. But if they slip up, expect Texas A&M and SMU to start taking some more votes for the top spot.
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 9.
WFAA's Texas Football Rankings for Week 9:
No. 1 Texas Longhorns (6-1)
Ryan Osborne: I really wanted to put SMU or Texas A&M here, because, really, how is the Longhorns' resume that much better than either of those teams? Texas A&M probably has the best win of the bunch against Missouri. But I'll keep Texas here for now on the sheer fact that I believe they'll beat A&M and would beat SMU. But Texas will need to prove itself down the stretch after a weak performance against Georgia.
- Paul Livengood - 1
- Ryan Osborne - 1
- Zach Yanes - 1
No. 2 SMU Mustangs (6-1)
Zachary Yanes: I saw a tweet the other day that said SMU was one weird attempt at a lateral away from being 7-0, and I have to agree. These Mustangs can play and they continue to keep their foot on the gas, running through ACC competition. Next up, SMU takes on Duke, which should be another chance to showcase its talent.
- Paul Livengood - 3
- Ryan Osborne - 2
- Zach Yanes - 2
No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies (6-1)
Paul Livengood: The Aggies continued to roll in their SEC schedule after losing their only game of the season to No. 12-ranked Notre Dame. They're gaining steam on UT in these rankings, though, after the Longhorns dropped a game to the Georgia Bulldogs.
- Paul Livengood - 2
- Ryan Osborne - 3
- Zach Yanes - 3
No. 4 Sam Houston Bearkats (6-2)
Zachary Yanes: A win is a win, no matter how ugly it may be. The Bearkats continue to climb these rankings simply because they are winning -- a lot of these Texas teams can't say the same.
- Paul Livengood - 5
- Ryan Osborne - 7
- Zach Yanes - 4
No. 5 Baylor Bears (3-4)
Ryan Osborne: These rankings are all over the place after the top three spots, mostly because none of these teams are particularly great. Baylor definitely falls into that bucket. But hey, they beat Texas Tech this week, so I can't rank the Red Raiders ahead of them.
- Paul Livengood - 6
- Ryan Osborne - 5
- Zach Yanes - 6
No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs (4-3)
Ryan Osborne: The Horned Frogs have climbed out of purgatory, for now. They tried their hardest to lose at Utah but managed to sneak away with a win. Now they face Texas Tech as a 7-point favorite and a chance to hold onto any chance at a possible Big 12 Championship Game appearance. This team is a wild ride, and not really in a fun way.
- Paul Livengood - 4
- Ryan Osborne - 4
- Zach Yanes - 10
No. 7 Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-2)
Paul Livengood: Tech, what the heck? A 24-point loss to a Baylor Bears team below .500? What are you? You're making this ranking thing very murky.
- Paul Livengood - 7
- Ryan Osborne - 6
- Zach Yanes - 7
No. 8 North Texas Mean Green (5-2)
Zachary Yanes: UNT's game against Memphis this past week went about the way I expected, which was a lot of points. The Mean Green were able to hang in there with Memphis' high-scoring offense, but they just came up a little short. No shame in this loss, they have a chance to get right against a solid Tulane team, one that sits near the top of the AAC.
- Paul Livengood - 8
- Ryan Osborne - 10
- Zach Yanes - 8
No. 9 Texas State Bobcats (4-3)
Paul Livengood: Texas State really drives me up the wall sometimes. As an alum, it's maddening to watch this team blow 24-point leads or allow a below-.500 team's quarterback to run wild like he's Lamar Jackson. Still holding out hope on a conference title though -- or maybe we need to make a bowl game first.
- Paul Livengood - 9
- Ryan Osborne - 9
- Zach Yanes - 8
No. 10 Houston Cougars (2-5)
Ryan Osborne: The Cougars limped out of the bye week with a 42-14 loss to Kansas. Ouch. That's a disappointing result after beating TCU two weeks earlier, but now Houston will get a crack at a struggling Utah team at home.
- Paul Livengood - 10
- Ryan Osborne - 8
- Zach Yanes - 9
No. 11 Rice Owls (2-5)
Paul Livengood: Still really bad, but still better than UTSA.
- Paul Livengood - 12
- Ryan Osborne - 11
- Zach Yanes - 11
No. 12 UTSA Roadrunners (3-4)
Zachary Yanes: Shockingly, the Roadrunners actually won a game this past weekend. This win marks UTSA's first over an FBS team this season... So that's a step in the right direction, I guess. Not a lot of good is happening in San Antonio at the moment so giving fans something to cheer about was a nice break from the suffering.
- Paul Livengood - 11
- Ryan Osborne - 12
- Zach Yanes - 12
No. 13 UTEP Miners (1-7)
Zachary Yanes: The Miners were oh so close to getting their second win of the season, but almost doesn't count in college football, so UTEP will remain at the bottom of the rankings -- for now.
- Paul Livengood - 13
- Ryan Osborne - 13
- Zach Yanes - 13
