By TexasFootball.com staff
Just a week ago, we here at DCTF said we thought we had a bead drawn on the top two teams in Texas — unbeaten Houston and rapidly improving TCU. It looked stable. But then Robert Griffin threw a 34-yard scoring strike to Terrance Williams in a marvelous upset of the title-hungry Sooners, and everything was nearly plunged back into chaos again.
We say nearly because TCU managed to maintain its hold on the second spot with a win over Colorado State; just one vote kept the Frogs afloat, and while BU does hold the head-to-head victory from the season opener, TCU is also just a win away from yet another Mountain West Conference title. It's a tough one to call, hence the one-point margin between the two. Neither's recent brilliance has been enough to shake the 11-0 Coogs from the top spot, however. This weekend's game at Tulsa will have something to say about that.
A&M, which walloped Kansas in dominating fashion, leapfrogs the offensively inept Longhorns — just the sixth team since 2000 to lose a game in which it held the opposition (Kansas State) to less than 125 yards. However, the order of UT-A&M will surely be cemented after this week's Turkey Day result. Can we have a moment of silence for the death of Texas' top rivalry?
SMU and Texas Tech, both losers on the road last weekend, sit in familiar chairs as UTEP slides to eighth with its loss to Tulsa. Rice, a winner over Tulane, jumps into the ninth spot (barely), while UNT sees its quest for bowl eligibility come to an end. At this point, it seems likely we'll put just six teams in a bowl — Tech and UTEP won't be favorites in their season finales, and Rice and UNT are already eliminated from postseason contention. Who would have thought four months ago that Tech wouldn't have made a bowl this year?
DCTF's 2011 Texas College Power Poll — Week 12
| # | School | Points (1st-place votes) | Previous week |
| 1 | Houston Cougars (11-0/7-0) | Points: 50 (5) | 1 |
| Greg Tepper: The first test of the three-game path to the BCS was passed with flying colors as the Coogs soared past SMU. Now comes a true road test against a truly dangerous opponent in Tulsa. This is, to me, the most dangerous game left for the Coogs, and they’ll need to be hitting on all cylinders to keep their BCS dreams afloat. | |||
| 2 | TCU Horned Frogs (9-2/6-0) | Points: 43 | 2 |
| Brad Hilliard: A win against UNLV next week would give the Frogs 26 consecutive conference wins to close out their time in the Mountain West. | |||
| 3 | Baylor Bears (7-3/4-3) | Points: 42 | 4 |
| Adam Hochfelder: RGIII punched his ticket to New York with another marquee win. I’d vote him No. 1 on my ballot if I had one as of today. He's simply a transcendent player. In my mind, he is up there with VY, Tebow and company. | |||
| 4 | Texas A&M Aggies (6-5/4-4) | Points: 34 | 5 |
| Greg Tepper: Throttling Kansas is nice but unoriginal. Now comes a game that means as much to the fans as it does to the players: a final showdown with Texas as conference rivals. This is almost a must-win for the Aggies on an emotional level. | |||
| 5 | Texas Longhorns (6-4/3-4) | Points: 31 | 3 |
| Tom Sullivan: I can’t remember the last time a Texas offense was this inept for two seasons in a row. Facing a mediocre Aggies' D can help … or can it? | |||
| 6 | SMU Mustangs (6-5/4-3) | Points: 24 | 6 |
| Adam Hochfelder: No Zach Line really hampers the ‘Stangs. While 2011 will get SMU back to a bowl, these midseason losses are taking away from what would have been a great year. | |||
| 7 | Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-6/2-6) | Points: 19 | t-7 |
| Greg Tepper: It was really nice to see Texas Tech show some fight despite being absolutely decimated by injuries at Missouri. It’s not a win, but the fans should be proud of how the Raiders fought against all of the adversity. Still, hard to see the bowl streak continuing. | |||
| 8 | UTEP Miners (5-6/2-5) | Points: 17 | t-7 |
| Travis Stewart: It's fitting that UTEP travels to UCF with a win-and-in opportunity for a bowl — if the Miners lose to a sub-.500 team that has no shot of making a bowl, than they didn't deserve to play in the postseason anyways. Closing out with a cupcake would have been one thing; closing out with a dangerous team just a year removed from a conference crown can infuse this entire 2011 season with some meaning. | |||
| 9 | Rice Owls (4-7/3-4) | Points: 8 | 10 |
| Travis Stewart: Rice is a good example of how fleeting — and unappreciated — success can be at the FBS level. Just a few years ago, it seemed like Chase Clement couldn't lose down in the River City. Now Owl wins are few and far between. Example: In 2008, TTU, Texas and Rice graced our winter magazine cover, all celebrating miraculous seasons. Seems like a long time ago, doesn't it? | |||
| 10 | North Texas Mean Green (4-7/3-4) | Points: 7 | 9 |
| Brad Hilliard: The Mean Green will fall short of a bowl game this year, but North Texas fans have to be excited about the future after so much progress was made. | |||
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
