Texas Football: 4 overreactions after decisive win over No. 23 UL

The Big 12 is wide open

Take a look around the Big 12 following the conclusion of the bulk of the Week 1 action and you see a tremendous opportunity for Texas to make a run at the conference title in 2021. Texas was the most impressive Big 12 team in Week 1 without a doubt. About the only team that could challenge for that mark is the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who had an impressive comeback win over the Houston Cougars.

But it’s likely that Louisiana is a much better team than Houston this year.

Moreover, the top team in the Big 12 preseason media poll was the No. 2 ranked Oklahoma Sooners. In an emotional game with plenty of good sportsmanship shown, Oklahoma was put on upset alert by the Tulane Green Wave. Oklahoma was one drive and a little over one minute away from getting upset by Tulane.

Iowa State came into the season as the next-best team in the Big 12 media poll. No. 7 ranked Iowa State looked sluggish on offense en route to a narrow six-point win over FCS Northern Iowa.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State Cowboys did not look good in the slightest in a near-upset at the hands of head coach Bobby Petrino and FCS Missouri State. You also can’t put too much stock into the TCU Horned Frogs beating a bad FCS Duquesne team.

You can never put too much stock into Week 1 outings, but this is probably the most realistic reaction to this weekend of the four on this list. If Texas continues to play the way they did in this three-possession win over the Cajuns, a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game is definitely within reach.

If Texas gets a win over Arkansas in Week 2, then the hype train will be real for this team in the Big 12 heading into the Rice game and then the beginning of the conference slate. Sark does have the Longhorns in a position to make some real noise in the Big 12 this fall.