Texas Football: Where 247Sports projected Longhorns for bowl season in 2020

The latest bowl projections for Texas football for the looming 2020 season has them in a familiar spot against a familiar foe.

Last season, the Texas football program found themselves surprisingly playing in the Alamo Bowl after finishing up with a seven-win campaign from the regular season slate. Texas faced the PAC-12 runner-up and No. 11 ranked Utah Utes in the Alamo Bowl. Considering Texas entered the postseason with a record of 7-5 (5-4 Big 12), this seemed like a fortunate bowl destination for them.

At one point, Utah was in the thick of the dark horse contenders to get into the College Football Playoff picture. But that all came collapsing down after losing to the Oregon Ducks in the PAC-12 Championship Game. Then the season got worse for head coach Kyle Whittingham and his Utes when they fell short to the Longhorns by a convincing margin of 28-points.

The 38-10 Alamo Bowl win over Utah likely saved a lot of the heat that could’ve come to head coach Tom Herman in the current offseason. It gave Texas their eighth win of the season, and their second over a ranked opponent. This was definitely much-needed for both Herman’s and the team’s confidence heading into the 2020 offseason.

However, the outlook for the looming 2020 college football season gives the Longhorns much higher expectations than just eight wins. Another eight win season might spell doom for Herman and his retooled coaching staff. Texas has too much returning talent and a new-look (and hopefully upgraded) coaching staff around Herman for the fall.

The standards for this season on the Forty Acres are likely to pin the Longhorns as one of the Big 12 favorites. They should at least be getting in the realm of the double-digit win mark again, and reaching the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time since 2018.

As far as postseason expectations go, 247Sports recently gave their thoughts on the projections at this point of the offseason. Brad Crawford of 247Sports projected the Longhorns to face head coach Clay Helton and the USC Trojans in the Alamo Bowl. This would be the first time since 2018 that the Longhorns met with the Trojans on the gridiron. And it would be their second consecutive appearance in the Alamo Bowl.

Here’s what Crawford had to say on the Longhorns-Trojans Alamo Bowl projection.

"Both of these Top 15 programs are expecting more out of the 2020 season, each blessed with top-end quarterbacks, but without a conference title for either, it’s hard to assume a berth in the New Year’s Six will happen unless they finish with a single blemish. Texas travels to LSU, takes on Oklahoma in Dallas and must navigate several other challenging matchups during Big 12 play. After the seismic opener vs. Alabama, the Trojans would likely have to run the table in the Pac-12 to reach the final four. Given Clay Helton’s hot seat, USC will be an interesting team to watch for sure."

This projection also has the Big 12 on the outside looking in for the College Football Playoff. Crawford has the one-seed Ohio State Buckeyes facing the four-seed Florida Gators in one semifinal matchup. And he has the other semifinal set between the two-seed Alabama Crimson Tide and three-seed Clemson Tigers.

Crawford also has the Oklahoma Sooners playing in the Cotton Bowl against the Texas A&M Aggies. That would slot Oklahoma as the Big 12 Champions. The TCU Horned Frogs are projected as the third place team in the Big 12, by bowl pecking order. Other projected bowl-bound teams from the Big 12 includes the Iowa State Cyclones, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Baylor Bears, and Kansas State Wildcats.