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Texas, the Forgotten Lover of College Football

by: RT Young3 hours ago
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Arch Manning (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

The conversation around contending teams in college football often reminds me of the lyrics from a sad country music song—how quickly the discourse moves from one team to the next, one lover to another.

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You know the type of song I mean, from the 1980s or 90s, with someone like Mark Chesnutt or Diamond Rio singing about how “I used to be your man, now I just watch you through the window there with him.” The song toes the border of brokenhearted and creepy really well.

A good thing about a bye week is it allows you to catch up on the national discourse. Because when Texas is playing—especially when they’re not playing well—I tend to avoid the mainstream college football media like the plague. Negative or ignorant comments make me want to punt my phone across the yard like I’m an angry Michael Dickson.

Bye week or not, I was struck by how little Texas conversation there was in the aftermath of Week Five. Part of it makes sense: a monster week of college football just happened while the Longhorns and Steve Sarkisian sat at home. Plus, before that, Texas hadn’t played particularly well, especially relative to their preseason ranking of number one. The Arch Manning-in-glasses or Vuori ads are all that’s left of an environment around this sport that was oozing burnt orange only a month ago. Remember Paul Finebaum drooling from his mouth over Manning? That was in August.

The other part is where my sad country song comes in. Because it’s obvious the big podcasts, the loudest talking heads and even the most rational aficionados are leaving Texas, Arch Manning and this team for new flings.

I was listening to two big national podcasts while doing yardwork and was struck by a couple of comments. The first was when one cohost asked the other who they’d put $100 on if they had to bet on a team outside of the AP top four to win the national title. Their answer wasn’t the team that’s been on the doorstep of the championship game the last two seasons. They were tempted to choose Texas Tech, but in the end their answer was a team on Texas’ schedule: Texas A&M.

On the other show, both hosts ranked Texas outside of the top six in the SEC power rankings. I get the concept of a power ranking—it rewards teams for “what have you done for me lately?” But does anyone really think Vanderbilt or Mississippi State has a better chance to win the conference than the Longhorns?

Once again, it’s apparent this sport is about reminders. With so many teams, uneven scheduling and unclear metrics, most are only able to see what’s right in front of them. A team can be forgotten, like an ex-lover from one of those country songs. But there’s also a big difference between those songs and the college football dialogue: a team can be taken back into the arms of those who previously left. They can show everyone what they were missing when they were flirting with the likes of the Red Raiders, Aggies and Commodores instead.

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With a solid month of SEC games away from Austin, it’s Texas’ chance to give out some reminders. Who will be singing then?

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