With apologies to Sam Houston, UTEP and Rice, the race to be the state’s top G5 this season is a three-team race between Texas State, North Texas and UTSA.

The Bearkats won 10 games last year and were the Lone Star State’s "King of the G5" last season, but the loss of head coach K.C. Keeler and almost all of their defense to the transfer portal makes a repeat tough to fathom. Rice is in Year 1 of a new coach – Scott Abell – while UTEP is in Year 2 of the Scotty Walden era. 

Becoming the best G5 in America is more important than ever thanks to an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff for the highest-ranked conference champion. Last year, that was Boise State. The Broncos are the favorite to reach the 12-team CFP again in 2025 alongside Memphis and Tulane.

While Texas might not be home to a true national contender, all three of the state’s best G5 teams in 2025 could compete for a conference championship. 

Texas State beat UTSA handily in Week 2 of 2024 and then finished the season with a thrilling victory over North Texas in the First Responder’s Bowl. UTSA plays both teams in 2025 with Texas State visiting the Alamodome in Week 2 and traveling to Denton during AAC play.

But who should be considered the best heading into the season? That’s a matter of debate. A case can be made for or against for all three teams. 

TEXAS STATE BOBCATS

Case for: The Bobcats ended 2024 better than both UTSA and North Texas and head coach G.J. Kinne raised the floor in San Marcos with consecutive eight-win seasons. Offensively, Texas State should run the ball better than both UTSA and North Texas. A talented stable of backs includes Lincoln Pare, Torrance Burgess Jr., and UNLV transfer Greg Burrell. The defense was also easily the best of these three teams a year ago with defensive coordinator Dexter McCoil leading a unit ranked 60th nationally in scoring defense. UTSA was 103rd, while North Texas ranked 119th.

Kinne might be breaking in a new offensive coordinator and a fresh quarterback, but we’ll assume the Bobcats won’t struggle to score points. Of the three units that are the biggest question marks in this debate – Texas State offense, UNT defense, UTSA defense – the Bobcats’ offense is probably the safest bet to perform at a championship level. Find consistency at quarterback and Texas State could win the Sun Belt. The roster was turned over but Kinne proved in 2023 that he’s masterful in the portal and can lead a team of new faces. 

Case against: Texas State left spring without a surefire No. 1 quarterback, adding SMU transfer Keldric Luster after spring ball. He arrived in the summer to compete with redshirt freshman Brad Jackson and Auburn transfer Holden Geriner. Jackson’s familiarity in the system and his running ability give him an edge. The Bobcats also lost top receivers Joey Hobert to graduation and Kole Wilson to Baylor. 

And if we’re betting on the Texas State defense to carry the Bobcats, especially early in the year while the offense figures it out, we can’t discount the heavy losses through the transfer portal in the trenches. Ben Bell is at Virginia Tech. Dominique Ratcliff headed to Indiana. Terry Webb will start at SMU. Tavian Coleman left for Colorado. That’s a lot of losses. 

UTSA ROADRUNNERS 

Case for: Owen McCown. That might be reductive but returning one of the top G5 quarterbacks in the country is a huge advantage in this discussion. Both Texas State and North Texas lost their starting quarterbacks from last year. In McCown, UTSA returns a signal caller with 13 starts who threw for over 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns last year. The Roadrunners also bring back a bevy of experienced talent at wide receiver, tight end, and along the offensive line. Fair to say that the most known unit in this debate is the UTSA offense. 

UTSA is also the most consistent program of these three in recent memory. Since head coach Jeff Traylor arrived in 2020, his Roadrunners are a combined 7-2 against North Texas and Texas State. They’ve also won two conference championships and played for another over the last four years. The 2024 season was a blip on the radar and UTSA recovered to finish strong. Expect a more complete season from the Roadrunners this year.  

Case against: UTSA was an undisciplined team that played horrible defense for large parts of last season and there is no guarantee that either problem is fixed. The Roadrunners won’t know if they’ve cleaned up the penalty problem that plagued them last season until the bullets start flying. UTSA had the second-most penalties (113) and penalty yards (1,054) last season in FBS. The only team that had more of each – SMU – played one more game than the Roadrunners. 

UTSA also fielded the worst defense of the Traylor era and improving in 2025 will require new faces to step up. The Roadrunners lost stalwarts up front in Joe Evans, Brandon Brown, and Jimmori Robinson. The second level must replace Jamal Ligon – the program’s all-time leading tackler. And the secondary lost an NFL draft pick at cornerback. 

NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN

Case for: The only thing that held back North Texas in the first two seasons of the Eric Morris era was defense. He’s clearly one of the best offensive minds in football and could probably field an offense made up of 11 people off the street and finish with a unit ranked in the Top 25 of total offense and scoring. But the Mean Green couldn’t stop a sniffle over the last two years. They gave up 34.2 points per game last year, which was somehow an improvement on the 37.1 points per game allowed in 2023. 

Enter new defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity. His loss is why we don’t believe Sam Houston is in this discussion. The Bearkats only allowed 20.5 points per game last year, improving over 40 spots in scoring defense in his only year in Huntsville. A similar improvement in Year 1 at North Texas could put the Mean Green in AAC contention if the offense continues its success. 

The schedule is also a feather in the cap for Morris & Co. They don’t play a body bag non-conference game like UTSA with Texas A&M or Texas State at Arizona State. The Mean Green also drew an AAC schedule without Tulane or Memphis and the UTSA game is at home. 

Case against: Morris isn’t magic. He still needs quality players to score offensively and it is hard to replace the leading passer, rusher, and receiver every year. He’ll attempt to do it for the third time in three years in 2025. The quarterback battle between returner Drew Mestemaker – who was a breakout star of the bowl loss to Texas State – and Miami transfer Reese Poffenbarger extended into the summer. Does a No. 1 receiver emerge in a room that consists of Landon Sides, Miles Coleman and transfer Simeon Evans? We’ll see. 

And there is no guarantee that the Mean Green drastically improve defensively in Year 1 under Cassity. Playing defense is easier when the offense is a slower-paced unit like the one the Bearkats fielded last year. His unit will be asked to defend more snaps with Morris calling plays on the other side of the ball. Cassity did bring in experienced players with him from Sam Houston, but the jump to AAC might prove too much. Recent history is also working against North Texas. The last time this program finished above .500 was in 2018. 

DCTF Pick: UTSA 

We’ll bet on the team with the proven quarterback and head coach. McCown is the best player and Traylor has proven already that the Roadrunners can reach the top of their respective conference. The 29-3 home record also helps considering that UTSA gets Texas State in the Alamodome. Their recent dominance of North Texas is also hard to ignore.