By TexasFootball.com staff
Well, well, well. Green with envy, indeed.
The Baylor Bears, fresh off a decisive win over former Southwest Conference rival Rice, have hoisted a prize long thought to be too elusive for the afterthought Waco faithful — the top spot in the DCTF Power Poll. Skeptic? Not sure we can tell you anything that the team itself hasn't screamed out with its play — Baylor has already sunk TCU and is sporting the most statistically accurate QB in America. Besides, BU was a unanimous No. 1 choice this week in our poll. That's saying something.
A&M, as you would expect, slips, but only to No. 2 — despite the gut-wrenching stye of the loss, it was still just a one-point falter against the No. 7 team in the country. Should the Aggies have won it? Absolutely. But the fact that they were even in a position to stroll away with a win is notable in itself, and our staff would still favor the maroon and white against anyone else in Texas not named Baylor.
TCU hangs onto the third spot for the second week in a row, and that's really all there is to say for the time being — the Frogs walloped a team they were supposed to wallop. Texas Tech's struggles against Nevada solidified Texas' grip on the fourth spot, though that could fall into flux again depending on how the 'Horns handle Ames this weekend. Houston, which, like TCU, gobbled up a sacrificial offering Saturday, slots in at No. 6.
SMU would move up if not for two factors — A) No one above the Ponies gave us a reason to move them that far down, and B) Memphis put on a pretty putrid performance Saturday morning. Rice sticks at No. 8, despite the drubbing by Baylor, but the other big shock of the poll involves a green team as well — UNT, left for dead years ago, has clawed up to the nine spot after its win over Indiana. UTEP's lopsided loss to South Florida, combined with the Miners' mediocre play to date in general, pushes it to the dreaded ten spot.
DCTF's 2011 Texas College Power Poll — Week 4
| # | School | Points (1st-place votes) | Previous week |
| 1 | Baylor Bears | Points: 50 (5) | 2 |
| Travis Stewart: For all the wringing of hands over the points allowed to Rice this weekend, let's remember that Baylor completely stymied that attack when the game was still remotely close; it didn't feel like a defensive letdown for those watching it . I'm not saying it's the Steel Curtain, just that I wouldn't cite this result in any anti-Bear manifesto. By the way, Art Briles is the best offensive play caller in the business. Just my opinion. | |||
| 2 | Texas A&M Aggies | Points: 44 | 1 |
| Adam Hochfelder: My heart wants to punish A&M for choking against OSU and even for bolting the state for the SEC. Still, they are a very, very good football team that will get to prove it in the next two weeks vs. Arky and Baylor. | |||
| 3 | TCU Horned Frogs | Points: 39 | 3 |
| Brad Hilliard: Despite winning the last two games by comfortable margins, the Frogs do not appear to be a very confident team right now. A big defensive effort against a June Jones-coached offense in what is always an emotionally-charged rivalry game would go a long way in their rebuilding effort. | |||
| 4 | Texas Longhorns | Points: 35 | t-4 |
| Greg Tepper: It's weird to say that the Longhorns' toughest test so far will be a road night game in Ames, but Iowa State is playing surprisingly well. The burnt orange should get a trial. | |||
| 5 | Texas Tech Red Raiders | Points: 28 | t-4 |
| Travis Stewart: It wasn't good — I know. Tech waited until absolutely the last possible moment to salvage something out of this weekend against Nevada, and it's hard to imagine either of the Oklahoma schools doing that. But it's baby steps, folks — this young Raider crew is growing on a weekly basis, and the first few weeks have shown us they either don't know how to dominate average opponents ... or that they're average themselves. I think it's the former. |
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| 6 | Houston Cougars | Points: 27 | 6 |
| Adam Hochfelder: When I first saw the ticker score on Saturday, I saw Houston beating the snot out of Georgia. Never saw the “St.” after it. Still, UH has not lost a game. Are the Coogs ready to pounce in C-USA? | |||
| 7 | SMU Mustangs | Points: 24 | 7 |
| Travis Stewart: Memphis, this is going to hurt, and I'm sorry: the Tigers are simply dreadful. That's conclusion No. 1. Conclusion No. 2 is that, in my mind, SMU's most consistent, reliable and noteworthy player is and has been Zach Line. I'd trade two Darius Johnson's for one Zach Line right now. Death, taxes and yeoman's effort out of the Michigan product. |
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| 8 | Rice Owls | Points: 14 | 8 |
| Travis Stewart: Rice's defense is going to get killed for Baylor's point production on Saturday, but watch the tape and you'll see that almost any defense would have been shredded by what BU was doing out there. Three of the first four Bear scores came off play-action variations that I simply don't know how you could possibly resist biting on. | |||
| 9 | North Texas Mean Green | Points: 4 | 10 |
| Brad Hilliard: After beating their first AQ conference school since 2003, the Mean Green will look to erase their nine-game losing streak to Tulsa this weekend on the road. |
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| 10 | UTEP Miners | Points: 8 | 9 |
| Greg Tepper: The offense got going behind technical-third-stringer Carson Meger in the loss to South Florida, but the running game is still a mess, and the defense isn't playing well enough to make up for that. | |||
ABOUT THE PANEL:
> Travis Stewart is the managing editor of DCTF
> Greg Tepper is the associate editor of DCTF
> Adam Hochfelder is the Executive Director of DCTF and several other IMG College properties
> Brad Hilliard is the operations coordinator for DCTF and several other IMG College properties
> Tom Sullivan is an account executive for DCTF
