A Good Win Over Tech

Texas beat No. 8 Texas Tech.

“The thing about this league is teams being ranked and where they’re ranked will fluctuate some because people are going through a gauntlet of tough games,” Smart said. “There’s five or six teams in our league that could make an argument to be in the top 10, 15 or 20.

“We’re not one of them yet; we’re trying to become one of them. Tonight was a good step in that direction.”

Texas is No. 24 in another way-too-early pre-season poll.

The Longhorns lost six games in coach Tom Herman’s first season, which was disappointing. But four of them were games decided by five points or fewer, including losses to USC, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Can the Longhorns learn to win close games in Year 2? If they do, they might enjoy a second-year bounce like Georgia and Miami had this past season.

Football never stops. The team starts winter conditioning. Rain, sleet, snow or freezing temperatures, Herman’s strength and conditioning staff doesn’t let up.

NSD is almost here. About 80% of this year’s recruits signed during the first Early Signing Period but there is still talent on the board.

The College Football Playoff selection committee has six new members. The newest members include former USC player Ronnie Lott and Arizona Republic sports columnist Paola Boivin.

Kevin Sumlin might be a really good coach.

We all know it’s a case of perspective and expectations, of course. Sumlin never duplicated his first season at Texas A&M. In 2012, he won 11 games, beat Alabama and Oklahoma and coached a Heisman winner in Johnny Manziel. It never was that good again at A&M, but it was never really that bad, either. When Sumlin departed the SEC, only Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and Gus Malzahn had better career winning percentages.

Bethany College offers a football scholarship to a female defensive back.

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder’s 22-year-old grandson has passed away.