Charlie Strong and the Texas Longhorns have been 86’ed from college football’s preseason Top 25 for the 2015 season. This marks the first time since 1998 that the Longhorns have not received a Top 25 nod.
Instead, teams that finished with a 7-6 record last season (Arkansas and Tennessee) – compared to the 6-7 finish of Texas – earned the votes from FBS coaches to poke their heads in the bottom tier of the Amway Coaches Poll.
On a tangent, Arkansas was responsible for embarrassing Texas in its home state by defeating the Longhorns, whose offense clocked in only 59 total yards (Arkansas – 351) and seven first downs (Arkansas – 20), in the Texas Bowl 31-7.
After nabbing only eight points in the Amway Poll, Texas comes into the 2015 season as 38th overall, while other programs, such as Mississippi State and Texas A&M, blazed the trail in the category of snubbed candidates.
Texas saw its glory days between 2000-2009 when the program averaged 11 wins per season and averaged fifth overall in pre-season standings (2008’s 11th overall ranking boosted the number). Within those seasons, however, Texas managed to crack the top 5 only three times (2005, 2008, 2009) and posted a bowl game record of 7-3 (2009 – L 21-37 vs Alabama in the National Championship).
Over the last 18 years, Texas has been on the outside-looking-in four times when dealing with top 10 or lower finishes in the pre-season polls, but for Charlie Strong’s first two seasons? It’s too much of a false start to hold him accountable for the Longhorn’s turmoil. But considering how every team fumbled through the rankings last season since opening day kickoff, I predict the Big 12 underdogs to finish 17th overall (currently occupied by Georgia Tech in Amway’s Coaches Poll).
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
