Texas Football: Can Tom Herman finally win Big 12 title in 2020?

Texas football has not won a conference championship since 2009. Can Tom Herman lead Texas to a Big 12 Championship this season?

It’s difficult to fathom the Texas Longhorns have not won a Big 12 title since 2009. That was also the last time they played for a national championship. Since their 13-1 season in 2009, the Longhorns have been the epoch of mediocrity.

They’ve won 10 games only once — 2018 — since 2009 and have missed the postseason three times. Big-time recruits shunned Texas to play elsewhere. Players like Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III and Heisman finalist and SEC freshman of the year Jalen Hurts left Texas jilted at the altar.

After quarterback Sam Ehlinger declared Texas was “back” after a run to the Sugar Bowl in 2018, the Longhorns finished 8-5. Those five losses showed the Longhorns inconsistency. Their loss to eventual national champion LSU was supposed to prove they could play with anyone.

They played Big 12 champion Oklahoma tough in the Red River Rivalry and then they lost to a very average TCU squad. They were also defeated by an up and down Iowa State team. Even some of their wins were head-scratchers. They surrendered 31 points to a West Virginia team with a lousy offense and needed a last-second field goal against Kansas — yes, Kansas.

What will this season bring for the Longhorns? Can they contend for a Big 12 championship?