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Texas vaults back into AP, Coaches Top 25

Eric Nahlinby:Eric Nahlin•10/09/22
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Will Gallagher/Inside Texas

Texas’ 49-0 trouncing of rival Oklahoma vaulted the Longhorns (4-2) back into the Top 25 at No. 22 and No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches poll.

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Texas initially debuted in the rankings after its 20-19 Week 2 loss to No. 1 Alabama (6-0) but was relegated two weeks later after losing in overtime to Texas Tech (3-3) in Lubbock.

Since that loss, Texas has outscored its two opponents, West Virginia (2-3) and Oklahoma (3-3), 87-20. Despite OU’s obvious deficiencies and injuries, that was enough for voters to return the Horns to the rankings.

The two losses aside, metrics such as ESPN’s FEI are fond of Texas. The index “measures team’s true strength on net points scale; expected point margin vs average opponent on neutral field.” FEI has Texas No. 4 in the country behind only Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia.

While rankings assert about where Texas is in its season, metrics might suggest where Texas is going.

Texas next faces Iowa State (3-3) at home and Oklahoma State (5-0) on the road before its bye the weekend of October 29th. They’ll retake the field at Kansas State (5-1), at home against TCU (5-0), on the road for resurgent Kansas (5-1) before finishing at home against Baylor (3-2).

Where Texas finishes the season ranked will be an interesting storyline as the schedule increases in difficulty. The current ranking is fair, but it may not be indicative of where Texas will end up. Texas controls its own destiny and appears poised to make a run at the Big 12 crown.

After the dust has settled on Week 6, a new AP Top 25 is out and the attention has shifted towards Week 7. As teams try to get healthy and build their resumes, the polls are poised to continue being revamped on a weekly basis. Here is the latest AP Top 25, which features a new No. 1 team and other major shakeups from last week’s rankings.

In addition to the AP poll, the USA Today Coaches poll has Texas at No, 24 after this weekend.

AP Top 25 following Week 6

  1. Georgia (6-0) (32 first-place votes)
  2. Ohio State (6-0) (20)
  3. Alabama (6-0) (11)
  4. Clemson (6-0)
  5. Michigan (6-0)
  6. Tennessee (6-0)
  7. USC (6-0)
  8. Oklahoma State (5-0)
  9. Ole Miss (6-0)
  10. Penn State (5-0)
  11. UCLA (6-0)
  12. Oregon (5-1)
  13. TCU (5-0)
  14. Wake Forest (5-1)
  15. NC State (5-1)
  16. Mississippi State (5-1)
  17. Kansas State (5-1)
  18. Syracuse (5-0)
  19. Kansas (5-1)
  20. Utah (4-2)
  21. Cincinnati (5-1)
  22. Texas (4-2)
  23. Kentucky (4-2)
  24. Illinois (5-1)
  25. James Madison (5-0)

Updated Coaches Poll after Week 6

  1. Alabama (6-0) (35 first-place votes)
  2. Georgia (6-0) (18)
  3. Ohio State (6-0) (10)
  4. Michigan (6-0)
  5. Clemson (6-0)
  6. USC (6-0)
  7. Oklahoma State (5-0)
  8. Tennessee (5-0)
  9. Ole Miss (6-0)
  10. Penn State (5-0)
  11. Oregon (5-1)
  12. UCLA (6-0)
  13. NC State (5-1)
  14. Wake Forest (5-1)
  15. TCU (5-0)
  16. Kansas State (5-1)
  17. Mississippi State (5-1)
  18. Syracuse (5-0)
  19. Utah (4-2)
  20. Kansas (5-1)
  21. Cincinnati (5-1)
  22. Kentucky (4-2)
  23. Baylor (3-2)
  24. Texas (4-2)
  25. North Carolina (5-1)

BYU (previously No. 16 in last week’s Coaches Poll), Washington (previously No. 24), and Arkansas (previously No. 25) dropped out of this week’s rankings. Cincinnati, Texas, and North Carolina took those three spots in this week’s top 25.

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