If we win tonight...

[Goldenheart]

We are sitting at 5-2 with a 4-0 conference record. As disappointing as the BYU loss was, in particular, it seems that the most reasonable prediction for our season would have had us with two losses by now and at least one conference loss. We were a top 15 team preseason, not top 5. An optimistic prediction would have been one loss by now, but again this would most likely have been a conference loss. Long story short...if we win tonight I would say we are exceeding reasonable expectations at this point in the season.

 

[radan23]

I don't think you can say a win tonight has us exceeding expectations, but as you said a W tonight puts us at 5-2 (4-0) and in good position to challenge for the conference crown. Big IF, but if we take the Big XII title, we are BCS bound and a win in the Fiesta Bowl can only help recruiting regardless of HC scenario. Again, lots of IFs in my scenario. All we can ask these kids to do is take one game at a time and continue playing with heart and effort like we've seen in conference play.

 

[Goldenheart]

I guess it depends on your expectations. Nobody nationally was taking this team very seriously this year, which is why we were ranked 15. Teams ranked 15 often do not win their conference and often lose 3-4 games. While it is sad that expectations are so low at a place like Texas, it is what it is. For all the bellyaching going on this year, including from me, it is ironic that a win tonight puts us in a better position than the majority of us would have predicted before the season with a 4-0 conference record. I do agree that a win tonight is a big if, but I expect us to get the job done.

 

[Brasky]

Tough call. With 19 returning starters and the skill guys that we have I actually expected us to be a top 10 team before the year started.

And remember, we escaped with a W in Ames.

 

[Goldenheart]

Sometimes returning lots of starters can be bad - as in returning starters from a mediocre team. And I know we had really high expectations, me included. But that is what homers are supposed to do. Observers more objective than me were not that impressed, and if we win tonight I would say we are at least meeting, and perhaps, exceeding this relatively low expectations.

 

[Brasky]

But they're artificially low because we are coached by Mack Brown

 

[Goldenheart]

I think the expectations were right for the players we have. And i agree that Mack is definitely responsible for the players we have. The fact is our talent evaluation, regardless of how many stars recruiting services hand out, has been off for a few years. And to be fair, some of that was bad luck, but some of it was poor evaluation. Look no further than A&M for confirmation of that fact. If you want to look beyond A&M, look at the NFL draft. It will confirm that the league whose teams do this for a living do not think much of our players. And I am sure some of that is that the recruits were legit and we didn't develop them properly. But we all need to recognize that a large percentage had to have been overrated recruits who were brought in because rivals, etc. gave them 4+ stars.

 

[Chitownhorn]

If you are just looking a at the record I think we are about at what most people expected UT to be at. But I don't think the record tells the whole story. Are we the team that barely beat ISU or are we the team that actually showed up to play and beat OU. The D has shown steady improvement the last 3 games and I hope to see it continue but I don't think the offense has established an identity that will prove successful over the long haul. If they are able to continue to run the ball like they did against OU there is hope but if they have to rely on Colts arm the only game I can confidently say they will win is KU. Here's to beetling the pants off of TCU. Hook em

 

[Lord Vader]

Things will be fine as Texas should be 7-2, 5-0 when it heads into Murders Row to end the year. That could easily snowball to 8-4 or 7-5.