Apparently, some voters are having trouble sorting out the Big 12 South's one-loss teams, as the Longhorns discovered that their loss in Lubbock not only cost them six spots in the Coaches Poll, but also that after the fall they wound up... behind Oklahoma? Who they beat by 10 points on a neutral field just one month ago? What the hell?
Struggling to understand how this could be, I decided it was time to chart the Big 12 South's one-loss teams, to see if I could come up with any other reason for voting Oklahoma over the Longhorns. Among the averages at the bottom of the chart, scores and MOVs against non-Division 1 teams are not included.
| TEXAS | Rank | PF | PA | MOV | OKLAHOMA | Rank | PF | PA | MOV | OKIE ST | Rank | PF | PA | MOV | ||
| FAU | 111 | 52 | 10 | +42 | UT-Chat | 214 | 57 | 2 | +55 | Wash St | 149 | 39 | 13 | +26 | ||
| @ UTEP | 108 | 42 | 13 | +29 | Cincy | 42 | 52 | 26 | +26 | Houston | 77 | 56 | 37 | +19 | ||
| Rice | 65 | 52 | 10 | +42 | @ Wash | 121 | 55 | 14 | +41 | SW Mizzou | 167 | 57 | 13 | +44 | ||
| Arkie | 61 | 52 | 10 | +42 | TCU | 11 | 35 | 10 | +25 | Troy | 73 | 55 | 24 | +31 | ||
| @ CU | 70 | 38 | 14 | +24 | @ Baylor | 75 | 49 | 17 | +32 | A&M | 79 | 56 | 28 | +28 | ||
| n-OU | 7 | 45 | 35 | +10 | n-Texas | 2 | 35 | 45 | -10 | @ Mizzou | 12 | 28 | 23 | +5 | ||
| Mizzou | 12 | 56 | 31 | +25 | Kansas | 37 | 45 | 31 | +14 | Baylor | 75 | 34 | 6 | +28 | ||
| Okie St | 8 | 28 | 24 | +4 | @ KState | 66 | 58 | 35 | +23 | @ Texas | 2 | 24 | 28 | -4 | ||
| @ Tech | 5 | 33 | 39 | -6 | Nebraska | 35 | 62 | 28 | +34 | Iowa St | 110 | 59 | 17 | +42 | ||
| AVGS | SOS: #7 |
43.1 | 20.6 | 23.5 | AVGS | SOS: #39 | 48.9 | 25.8 | 23.1 | AVGS | SOS: #85 | 43.9 | 22.0 | 21.9 |
- STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Oklahoma owns the only significant non-conference win among the trio, but Texas' recent four-game stretch through hell gives them the country's 7th toughest schedule-to-date--better than Oklahoma and significantly ahead of Oklahoma State.
- HEAD-TO-HEAD: Texas has wins over OU and OSU, while the latter have not yet battled head-to-head.
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MARGIN OF VICTORY: A draw, with all three squads pounding hard bad teams for a 20+ MOV average.
- BEST WINS: Texas enjoys wins over Sagarin Top 30 Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Missouri / Oklahoma has a Top 30 win over TCU / Oklahoma State has a Top 30 win over Missouri.
CONCLUSION?
I would urge fellow Blog Poll voter not to drop the Longhorns behind Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, which at this point in time seems wholly indefensible. If you've got a case to make, I'm all ears, but I'm having trouble imagining even a creative justification for ranking the Sooners ahead of Texas.
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