TEXAS, USA — Two weeks remain in the regular season of college football and things are getting very real.
As we approach conference championship season, the margin for error is getting razor-thin and a few of our Texas teams are fighting for a shot to win a conference title and punch their tickets to the College Football Playoff.
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 13.
WFAA's Texas Football Rankings for Week 13:
No. 1 Texas Longhorns (9-1)
Paul Livengood: The Longhorns' lone blemish has remained their 30-15 loss to Georgia, who I'd argue is one of the best teams in the country. They've handled the rest of their SEC schedule with relative ease, excluding a competitive outing against No. 25 Vanderbilt. The only team that could rival UT's resume on this list is SMU, but the conferences are not created equal.
- Paul Livengood - 1
- Ryan Osborne - 1
- Zach Yanes - 1
No. 2 SMU Mustangs (9-1)
Ryan Osborne: The Mustangs continued to get snubbed in the playoff rankings, sitting at No. 13 and well behind a Miami team with the same, or less, resume. It's ridiculous. Still, as coach Rhett Lashlee said Tuesday night, they just need to keep winning.
- Paul Livengood - 2
- Ryan Osborne - 2
- Zach Yanes - 2
No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies (8-2)
Zachary Yanes: Congratulations to the Aggies for defeating the Aggies. It was more of a lopsided victory but I'm glad the Aggies were able to come out on top. In all seriousness, Texas A&M needed this tune-up game against New Mexico State because they are entering the final stretch of the regular season and if they win out -- they will find themselves in the SEC Championship game for the first time in program history.
- Paul Livengood - 3
- Ryan Osborne - 3
- Zach Yanes - 3
No. 4 Baylor Bears (6-4)
Paul Livengood: After struggling out of the gate with Big 12 teams that'll be fighting for a spot in the conference championship game (Colorado, BYU, Iowa State), the Bears have found their stride, winning four in a row. They'll be a solid 7-to 8-win bowl team by the end of the year.
- Paul Livengood - 4
- Ryan Osborne - 4
- Zach Yanes - 4
No. 5 TCU Horned Frogs (5-4)
Ryan Osborne: The Horned Frogs were off last week and now have a chance to finish 8-4 with winnable games against Arizona and Cincinnati. Like Baylor, TCU has an opportunity to salvage an uneven season these next two weeks.
- Paul Livengood - 5
- Ryan Osborne - 5
- Zach Yanes - 5
No. 6 Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-4)
Zachary Yanes: Texas Tech had the weekend off following a loss to Colorado at home. Next up, the Red Raiders travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State.
- Paul Livengood - 7
- Ryan Osborne - 6
- Zach Yanes - 6
No. 7 Sam Houston Bearkats (8-2)
Paul Livengood: The Bearkats won again but barely beat a 1-9 Kennesaw State team in overtime that fired their coach earlier in the week. For context, Kennesaw State also took UTEP to two overtimes. Not an impressive win. Honestly, their best win all year was the choke job by my alma mater, Texas State. And we lost that game 100 times more than they "won it." Sure, they're 8-2, but not all wins are created equal.
- Paul Livengood - 8
- Ryan Osborne - 8
- Zach Yanes - 7
T-No. 8 Houston Cougars (4-6)
Ryan Osborne: The Cougars wasted an opportunity against a bad Arizona team, losing 27-3. Now they need wins over Baylor and BYU to make a bowl game. Still a solid showing from Willie Fritz in his first year in Houston.
- Paul Livengood - 9
- Ryan Osborne - 7
- Zach Yanes - 8
T-No. 8 Texas State Bobcats (4-4)
Paul Livengood: Texas State comes off a dominant 55-point blowout at home against Southern Miss. The Bobcats have lost by three to the now-No. 21 ranked Arizona State, the flukey, aforementioned one-point choke job against Sam Houston on a neutral field, a 10-point road loss, and one possession loss to the Sun Belt-leading Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. This team is a few bounces away from being 8-2 instead of 6-4.
- Paul Livengood - 6
- Ryan Osborne - 9
- Zach Yanes - 9
No. 10 UTSA Roadrunners (5-5)
Zachary Yanes: Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in! What a couple of weeks it's been for the UTSA Roadrunners. First taking down Memphis and now North Texas -- things have really turned around. Next up, the Roadrunners face a down Temple team -- a win over the Owls would grant UTSA bowl eligibility. Let's get it done!
- Paul Livengood - 10
- Ryan Osborne - 10
- Zach Yanes - 10
No. 11 North Texas Mean Green (5-5)
Ryan Osborne: The Mean Green are slipping and sliding, losing four straight. They still need a win to make a bowl game.
- Paul Livengood - 11
- Ryan Osborne - 11
- Zach Yanes - 11
No. 12 Rice Owls (3-7)
Paul Livengood: The Owls were idle, and so is their spot in this ranking.
- Paul Livengood - 12
- Ryan Osborne - 12
- Zach Yanes - 12
No. 13 UTEP Miners (2-8)
Zachary Yanes: The Miners had the weekend off after winning an OT thriller against Kennesaw State a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, they remain at the bottom.
- Paul Livengood - 13
- Ryan Osborne - 13
- Zach Yanes - 13
