The 2019 season is officially over now that the LSU Tigers are national champions. It’s time to turn to the 2020 season.
Baylor and SMU led the state of Texas in 2019 during breakout season. The Bears jumped out to an 11-3 season, tying the best single-season win mark in program history. SMU won 10 games for the first time since the Pony Express era of the 1980s.
However, the landscape of the state could shift dramatically heading into the 2020s. There’s coaching changes at both of the previous schools. Senior quarterbacks at Texas and Texas A&M could mean a resurgence is on the horizon.
Here is our way-too-early ranking of the FBS programs in Texas for 2020.
12. UTEP Miners
There’s no place to go but up for the Miners. UTEP was the only team in Texas without an FBS win in 2019. With improvements in San Antonio and West University, the Miners have another tough path to competing.
Running back Deion Hankins and quarterback Gavin Hardison will both have a full offseason in the rotation, which will help. However, there’s little reason to expect UTEP to take a leap into the middle class of the state in 2020 – prove us wrong!
11. UTSA Roadrunners
The Roadrunners start a new era under head coach Jeff Traylor. Traylor is heralded as an elite recruiter and has a handful of exciting prospects to work with like running back Sincere McCormick and quarterback Frank Harris.
However, there’s a lot of work to do with this team. Especially without knowing what Traylor plans at defensive coordinator, it’s hard to know where exactly to project this team.
10. Texas State Bobcats
The Bobcats have a lot of work to do after another disappointing 3-9 season, but there’s hope. Quarterback Brady McBride is eligible after transferring from Memphis, and we’ve heard great things about his upside.
Offensive coordinator Jacob Peeler helped develop DK Metcalf and A.J. Brown at Ole Miss. If he can get more out of the Bobcats’ receivers, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
9. Rice Owls
Few teams in the state ended 2019 as hot as the Rice Owls. Mike Bloomgren’s team beat UTEP, North Texas and Middle Tennessee to end the year, and beat the Miners by two touchdowns on the road.
The Owls also are replacing an Ivy League grad transfer QB with another former Ivy League QB – Mike Collins from TCU and formerly from Penn should fit in seamlessly. If the Owls can find a few good offensive linemen, a combination of defensive experience and strong recruiting has this program poised to take another step in 2020.
8. North Texas Mean Green
The 2020 season always projected to be a tough one for the Mean Green, but there are plenty of surprises. Mason Fine is gone, yes, but so are both coordinators. At this point, there’s no real frontrunner for the job.
Seth Littrell has recruited at an elite level in C-USA, so the dropoff shouldn’t be steep. However, this is a full-on rebuilding season for the Mean Green.
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders
The Red Raiders fought through a difficult first season under Matt Wells, but there was plenty to be excited about. The defense took a major step forward in Keith Patterson’s first season and now Todd Orlando is in to coach the linebackers.
If Alan Bowman can come back healthy and the defense can maintain without Jordyn Brooks in the lineup, Texas Tech has some unexplored upside heading into 2020. Wells is a process-oriented coach – this team will only get better.
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