Texas Football: Predicting realistic results for the Longhorns for the next 5 years
2018
Obviously, the easiest season to predict here is the upcoming campaign. We’re drawing very close to the beginning of the 2018 season, which will kick off on the road against the Maryland Terrapins. The schedule stacks up tough for the Horns in 2018, but that will be a continuing trend into the following four seasons.
Another non-conference matchup that could define the season for Texas comes against the USC Trojans. Texas does get USC at home this season in Week 3, but that doesn’t make anything too easy when facing a team of that talent level. Realistically, the Horns should be shooting for at least two wins out of the non-conference slate. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane should be taken care of without issue.
Following the matchups with Maryland, USC, and Tulsa, the Big 12 opener against the TCU Horned Frogs sits right around the corner. If Texas gets a jump start on the early portion of conference play behind a spirited start to the season altogether from either Shane Buechele or Sam Ehlinger, we could be looking at a five win start through the first seven games.
The experience that Texas has back on both sides of the ball will be important to getting through the difficult start to the regular season. Texas’ defense was huge last season and needs to be again in 2018. The real problem could be with the offense, so that’s where the questions come about for the realistic ability of the Horns to get to the 10-win mark at least through the regular season. An appearance in the 2018 Big 12 Championship Game could very well be on the horizon, though.