SWC Poll and Preview: Week 8
TCU and Baylor's seasons are on the line in the Revivalry, Texas A&M and Arkansas go to war in the Southwest Classic, and Tech seeks to stay on course.
If last week was any indication, we’re about to see a good amount of shake-up with the former teams of the Southwest Conference. The schools that are for real are finally emerging, and those that are frauds are exposing themselves as such. There isn’t a lot of room to hide when half the season has already gone by.
The list of teams that are for real is two deep: Texas A&M and Texas Tech. The pretenders list is a bit more complicated, as prior to last week it was just Rice, Arkansas, and SMU that fit that bill. But after the calamity that ensued in Manhattan, Kansas, it might be time to move the TCU Horned Frogs into that mix. I’ll wait to reserve full judgment on that until after their game against Baylor this Saturday.
The teams floating in the middle include Houston, Baylor, and Texas. Despite some good wins by each of those squads—Houston took down Colorado, Baylor beat SMU, and Texas just decimated Oklahoma—there are other factors that prevent them from completely elevating to that next level. Again, I just need more data.
Luckily, that appears to be a request that’ll be granted in the near future, especially in the case of the Bears and Longhorns. If those two teams are really up to snuff, they’ll win against TCU and Kentucky, respectively. If not, then a trip to the pretenders list will be on their travel itinerary.
The Southwest Conference is my baby. Once I’m made commissioner of college football—my campaign kicks off at the end of the season, so make sure to donate by subscribing to SethStack—my first order of business will be to resurrect the Southwest Conference. Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech will again be conference mates, just like the world intended. Any opposition to that stance is clearly propaganda promoted by greedy conference commissioners.
The following is both my ranking of all the teams that used to make up the SWC, as well as my preview for each of their games this upcoming week. I’ve received some encouraging feedback about this weekly piece, and I’m super duper appreciative of the support. Let’s band together and make the Southwest Conference a reality once again!
Here’s the SWC Poll and Preview for Week 8.
SWC Poll
1. Texas A&M (NM)
Week 7 result: 34-17 win vs. Florida
2. Texas Tech (NM)
Week 7 result: 42-17 win vs. Kansas
3. Texas (+2)
Week 7 result: 23-6 win vs. Oklahoma
4. Baylor (+1)
Week 7 result: BYE
5. Houston (+1)
Week 7 result: 39-17 win at Oklahoma State
6. TCU (-3)
Week 7 result: 41-28 loss at Kansas State
7. SMU (NM)
Week 7 result: 34-10 win vs. Stanford
8. Arkansas (NM)
Week 7 result: 34-31 loss at Tennessee
9. Rice (NM)
Week 7 result: 61-13 loss at UTSA
SWC Preview
Arkansas (2-4, 0-2 SEC)
vs. Texas A&M — 2:30 p.m. CT — ESPN
I wrote extensively about this year’s Southwest Classic—as well as the infamous 2022 edition—yesterday, so if you haven’t read that already, make sure to check it out at the link below.
It’s unlikely that Arkansas will be able to beat Texas A&M, but if the Hogs are able to pull off the upset, it’ll be because the offense, which ranks 28th in points per game at 33.3 and fourth in yards per game at 503.8, scores enough to keep up with the Aggies. Because let’s face it—the defense is going to give up points. There are 136 teams in the FBS, and Arkansas ranks 123rd in scoring defense (35.4 points per game allowed). What’s even worse is the abysmal 476.6 yards per game that opponents are putting up on a deficient Razorback defense. Simply put, Arkansas needs to score itself because the defense wouldn’t be able to stop a baby from moving the ball.
