College Football: 10 Teams who could dethrone Clemson and Alabama

4. Texas

Expectations for 2019 went through the roof after Texas surprisingly upset Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.

We’ve been fooled before into thinking Texas was back, but the Longhorns just had their best season since making the 2009 BCS Championship Game. It feels different this time, although most advanced metrics were still a little bit iffy on Texas when things were said and done.

The Longhorns finished 9th in both the AP and Coaches Polls, but ranked 17th in Sagarin and 30th in S&P+. Texas was an enigma throughout the season, capable of beating highly ranked opponents like Oklahoma and Georgia, but just as capable of losing to the likes of Maryland. They’ll have to find more consistency next year if they want to get over the hump and capture the Big 12 Championship and challenge for a spot in the playoff.

Texas will have to replace a lot of talent from this 10-win team with only eight starters returning. They do bring back rising junior Sam Ehlinger, who is the main reason for the optimism in Austin for 2019. Losing Lil’Jordan Humphrey to the draft hurts, but bringing back Collin Johnson is a boost to their receiving corps.

Texas currently has the nation’s 9th ranked recruiting class according to 247 after signing the 3rd ranked class last year.

Texas faces an immediate test on the second weekend of the regular season when LSU comes to visit, but the rest of the schedule is manageable. Getting the Tigers at home is a break, but they may be able to survive an early season loss to LSU and still make a run at the playoff if they can capture the Big 12.

Oklahoma will be breaking in a new QB, potentially making the Big 12 wide open. The ‘Horns will face some tough conference road games as they travel to West Virginia, TCU, and Iowa State. How they perform in those contests will decide whether or not Texas is a serious threat on a national level or not.