Ranking Texas' remaining schedule by difficulty after a WILD Saturday

Let the record show that Saturday, October 4, 2024, was off its meds. 

We knew Vanderbilt was improved after taking Missouri to overtime the week before. Okay, maybe that performance lost some luster after the Tigers looked terrible in College Station, but from the eyeball test, Vanderbilt was improved over its historical norm. Regardless of that improvement, the Commodore’s win over No. 1 Alabama was one of the greatest upsets in college football history. It wasn’t a fluke either. Vandy exerted game control. Surely Bama was taxed after its thrilling victory over Georgia the week before, but to be outplayed by Vandy? Just, wow.

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If you’re like me, you thought No. 4 Tennessee was about to cruise to victory after going up 14-3 in the 3rd quarter on Arkansas. Despite the Razorbacks outplaying the Vols in the first half, they only had three measly points to show for it. Normally when you squander such opportunity and fall behind by double digits in the second half, you’re done. Buoyed by its home field advantage, Arkansas scored all the points in the 4th quarter and won 19-14. 

Just like that, two games we figured Texas would win with near certainty look more difficult.  

1. Georgia (4-1), October 19

This Bulldogs team isn’t as good as some of recent vintage but they bounced back from the tough Bama loss with a workmanlike victory over Auburn. They played better than Bama, that’s for sure. In general, nobody matches up with Texas from a size and athleticism standpoint better than the Bulldogs.

2. Texas A&M (5-1), November 30

Bruh, Conner Weigman looked efficient and accurate, bruh. A few penalties, or non-penalty calls, went A&M’s way early. It was the same crew Texas had against Mississippi State. That’s a bad crew. None of that mattered. A&M played its best game of the season. I expect them to keep improving. As mentioned when this new staff was hired, it’s a good teaching and developing staff and I think we’re already seeing that. I hope rational A&M fans, if that’s a thing, kept receipts from after the opening loss to Notre Dame.

On a late November night, Kyle Field will be one of the most historically insane college venues of our lifetime. 

3. Oklahoma (4-1), October 12

My respect for OU extends beyond this season and into how the Sooners typically show up for this game. Texas is a big favorite but that doesn’t matter to me. Despite their issues at quarterback and offensive line, I’m not going to discount the Sooners coming out motivated and with some wrinkles the Texas staff will have to solve on the fly.

4. Arkansas (4-2), November 16

I’m glad this game is at 11:00 a.m. Of course that probably just means Arkansas fans will be drunk from the night before. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Taylen Green was a good pickup but I think he’s a little too erratic as a passer to truly threaten the Texas defense. Their defensive front looked good last night. I bet five-star Texas commit Lance Jackson will attend!

5. Vanderbilt (3-2), October 26

Quarterback Diego Pavia justifiably receives the headlines. He has the toughness of a service academy quarterback but with the ability to sling it around a bit. He’s not truly dangerous in any one regard but the sum is greater than the parts. What caught my attention yesterday was Vandy’s multi-faceted run game. They gained 166 hard-earned yards on Alabama and kept 42 minutes of time of possession! TOP can be misleading, OR, it can tell the story. Texas hasn’t set the world on fire stopping the run. Texas also gets Vandy after playing OU and Georgia in consecutive weeks. 

I thought about putting Vanderbilt ahead of Arkansas but didn’t want to overreact to the Bama victory. Let’s see how they look this week against a rested Kentucky. 

6. Kentucky (3-2), November 23

Earlier this year, in successive weeks, the Wildcats lost to South Carolina 31-6 and Georgia 13-12. What a great encapsulation of the sport. I’ve never liked how Kentucky is positioned right before the A&M game.

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7. Florida (3-2), November 9

The Gators have put together back to back wins over Mississippi State and UCF but business is about to pick up with Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and Texas in succession. Not only does Texas get Florida right after Georgia, the Horns get Florida off the bye week.