Updated ESPN FPI somehow holds Texas football in top 12

The latest version of ESPN’s Football Power Index seemingly has Texas football up way too high after Week 7, nearly inside the top 10.

The first bye week for fourth-year head coach Tom Herman and the Texas football program this year in the midst of the Big 12 schedule has a lot of turbulence circulating around the team, namely the coaching staff. Texas headed into the bye week with a record of 2-2 (1-2 Big 12), coming off that demoralizing four over time loss in the annual Red River Rivalry game at the hands of head coach Lincoln Riley and the Oklahoma Sooners, by the final score of 53-45.

Herman and the Longhorns have their two wins this season coming over the UTEP Miners, back on Sep. 12 at home in the season opener by the final score of 59-3, and in the Big 12 opener on the road back on Sep. 26 in overtime over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The win over Texas Tech came by the final score of 63-56 after that crazy comeback by the Longhorns.

But the two blemishes on the record for the Longhorns is what sparked all the discussion surrounding the hot seat that Herman currently finds himself on. Herman is under some of the heaviest scrutiny and pressure of any head coach not just in the Big 12, but in all of the Power Five, now heading out of the bye week.

Just after Herman started out with a 2-0 record for the first time in his four seasons on the Forty Acres, the Texas head coach followed that up with two improbably disappointing last-minute losses. The other defeat for the Longhorns came at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs in their Big 12 home opener back on Oct. 3, by the final score of 33-31.

Despite Texas carrying a .500 record, and a losing mark in Big 12 play, the updated version of ESPN’s Football Power Index out of Week 7 of the 2020 college football season still has them pretty high up in the rankings. Texas is somehow still at No. 11 in ESPN’s updated FPI, which is good for tops in the Big 12.

ESPN’s FPI actually slid up the Longhorns one spot after Week 7, dropping the Notre Dame Fighting Irish down to No. 12 in the rankings after their near upset loss at home against the Louisville Cardinals. And following the Longhorns in the updated FPI among the top Big 12 teams is the Oklahoma State Cowboys, at No. 13.

This version of the FPI projects Texas to finish up with a record roughly of 7-3 through the 2020 regular season. And they still have around an 11 percent chance to win out and a 19.2 percent chance to win the Big 12.

Next up for Herman and the Longhorns is an Oct. 24 home contest at DKR, with a 2:30 p.m. CT kick off time, against head coach Dave Aranda and the 1-1 (1-1 Big 12) Baylor Bears. Baylor had their Oct. 17 matchup with Oklahoma State delayed due to their vast number of active COVID-19 cases.