No. 9 Texas football now highest ranked Big 12 team in the AP Poll

Texas football now ranks at No. 9 in both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll following their exciting Week 4 comeback win over Texas Tech on Sep. 26.

The updated polls are out following the big win for the Texas football program over the Texas Tech Red Raiders in thrilling comeback fashion on the road in the Big 12 opener in Lubbock on Sep. 26. Head coach Tom Herman saw his Texas squad comeback from down 15 points with less than four minutes to go in the fourth quarter to push the game into overtime and ultimately come away with the narrow 63-56 overtime win.

While there was little to no defense played in this win for the Longhorns over the Red Raiders over the weekend, senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger got it done for Herman when it mattered most. Texas scored two touchdowns, nabbed an onside kick recovery, and had a successful two-point conversion all in a matter of roughly two minutes in the late stages of the fourth quarter.

After Texas downed the Red Raiders this weekend following another chaotic day of Big 12 action, they didn’t really make much headway in the updated polls. The AP Poll actually moved the Longhorns down one spot, to No. 9. And the updated version of the Coaches Poll for Week 5 held the Longhorns steady at No. 9.

But the commonality between the two major polls heading out of Week 4 held that Texas was the top ranked team in the Big 12 by a good margin. Texas is the outright leader in the Big 12 now in both polls, and the next best team behind them is pretty far. The Oklahoma schools are the lone two other Big 12 teams in the top 25 of both polls.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys ranked at No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 19 in the Coaches Poll. Meanwhile the Oklahoma Sooners sit at No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll.

A major difference between the AP Poll this week compared to last is the inclusion of all of the Big Ten and PAC-12 teams. The No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes, No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions, No. 14 Oregon Ducks, No. 18 Wisconsin Badgers, and No. 23 Michigan Wolverines, made their return to the AP Poll for Week 5.

Next up for Ehlinger, Herman, and the Longhorns is a sneaky-difficult matchup with head coach Gary Patterson and the TCU Horned Frogs with the morning kick off at 11 a.m. CT at home on Oct. 3. This will be the Big 12 home opener for the Longhorns and the first road game for the Horned Frogs.

Texas knocked off Texas Tech on the road this weekend by the final score of 63-56 in overtime. That came after they registered a 56-point win over the UTEP Miners at home in their season opener two weeks ago. The 2-0 (1-0 Big 12) Longhorns are now just one of two teams in the Big 12 that are both undefeated and rank in the top 25 in both polls. The other is Oklahoma State.