Where Texas football ranks in the post-Week 4 ESPN FPI?
This looks like another week where head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas football are ranked unnecessarily high in the updated version of the ESPN Football Power Index. Following Week 4 of the college football season, Sark and Texas held steady at No. 6 in the latest version of ESPN’s FPI.
Despite the tough upset loss on the road in overtime at the hands of new head coach Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Sep. 24, Sark and the Longhorns still manage to rank in the top 10 of ESPN’s FPI.
That means that Texas remains the highest-ranked team in the Big 12 in the post-Week 4 FPI. The next-highest-rated team in the Big 12 in the FPI this week is the Oklahoma Sooners. Holding steady at No. 8, Oklahoma managed to stay in the top 10 despite the loss on Sep. 24 at home to the Kansas State Wildcats.
What Texas and Oklahoma have in common coming out of Week 4 is a loss to an unranked Big 12 foe to open up conference play. Texas and Oklahoma both held steady in their respective spots in the updated FPI, despite each team getting upset this weekend.
Steve Sarkisian and Texas football hold at No. 6 in this week’s ESPN FPI despite the loss to Texas Tech
Moreover, it won’t be long before Sark and the Longhorns get to square off against new head coach Brent Venables and the Sooners in the annual Red River Rivalry game. Texas will face Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Oct. 8.
Texas has some work to do in the meantime, though. If Sark and the Longhorns are to reach the eight-win projection that the FPI still holds for this team, they will need to put this tough 37-34 overtime loss on the road to Texas Tech behind them right away. Texas needs to bounce back next weekend as they return home to the friendly confines of DKR to face the West Virginia Mountaineers on Oct. 1.
It’s worth noting that the FPI still gives Texas roughly a 30 percent chance to win the Big 12 and somehow still gives them a four percent chance to make it to the College Football Playoff. Neither of those expectations seems anywhere close to reality at this moment for Sark and the Longhorns.
Next. 3 biggest questions Sarkisian must answer after losing to Tech. dark
Texas now holds a record of 2-2 (0-1 Big 12) after the three-point overtime loss to Texas Tech at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock on Sep. 24. Next up for Sark and the Longhorns is the aforementioned matchup against West Virginia at home in Austin on Oct. 1, with the kickoff time set for 6:30 p.m. CT.