Once upon a time, in a galaxy not that far removed from this one, the Oklahoma Sooners didn't mean as much to Texas football fans as they have for the better part of the last three decades.
I know because I lived it. In fact, I was a college student at The University of Texas when it happened.
That time was back in the 1990s, a decade that began with a certain football program from College Station dominating in NIL before NIL was ever close to being legal. The vice grip that the Aggies had on the Longhorns from 1984-1994 was such that most of the focus in the 90s centered on the Longhorns finding a way to flip the script back on little brother.
Don't get me wrong, Texas fans would get in their feelings over the Sooners one week out of the year, but the other 358 or so days were spent on overcoming an era that saw them lose 10 out of 11 games to the Aggies. Say what you want to about John Mackovic, but he turned the rivalry on its head in 1995 and 1996, while Mack Brown eventually came in and took complete ownership of the rivalry.
Of course, just as the Aggies were being put in the rear-view mirror, Bob Stoops arrived in Norman and gave the Longhorns a new obsession to focus on for pretty much the entire lives of every Texas fans under the age of 30.
Why am I bringing up this history lesson?
I'm convinced that we're on the edge of a new era of Texas football, one that will once again see Longhorns focus all of their energy on the Sooners for about seven days, while the rest of the year is spent on other areas that will be perceived as more important pieces of interest.
The very moment that the Longhorns joined the SEC and the college football playoffs expanded to 12 teams (in the same season, no less!), this was always going to end up being the way because the road to SEC greatness doesn't run through Norman the way that it did for most of the years in the Big 12. Hell, it remains to be seen whether the Sooners will even matter greatly inside the scope of the best football conference in America.
Moving forward, the goal is to make the playoffs every year and compete for national prominence. Losing in Dallas did nothing to keep the Longhorns from winning the last Big 12 championship they will ever attempt to compete for and it certainly didn't keep Texas out of the national semifinals.
The Texas/OU game didn't define the 2023 season in Austin and it sure as hell won't in 2024. If we're being honest, the biggest game on the schedule in 2024 is the resumption of the A&M rivalry. That's the game more than any other that the Longhorns absolutely must win. The second biggest game? It's Georgia.
Texas/OU is nothing more than a supporting character in the movie that will be the first season in the SEC.
Consider that it wasn't until this past week (the first week of May) that a single YouTube show that I've done on House Divided focused on the Sooners at all. It's not that Chad Hastings and I have gone out of our way not to talk about the Sooners, it's just that the guys in crimson and cream just haven't organically come up ... at all.
That changed a little this week with the recruitment of Damonic Williams, but now that he's decided to go to the Sooners, we’ll resume regular-scheduled programming.
Oklahoma simply isn't the bar that Texas will judge itself against moving forward, not unless the Sooners under Brent Venables or whoever its next coach will be, can get the program out from under the rock of insignificance from which it currently resides. If you're an OU fan reading this, don't get mad at me. I'm not the one that set your over/under win total for the 2024 season at 7.5.
Maybe the greatest victory over the Sooners that the Longhorns can ever achieve is notifying their arch-rival on an annual basis that they just don't matter as much anymore. For a school that has its entire identity built around hating all things UT-related, what could sting more than being told you just don't matter as much anymore? All the hatred in the world won't change the fact that future seasons at Texas won't be defined by what happens in the Cotton Bowl any more than last season's was.
I realize there will be those that flinch at the notion that such a tradition has been devalued, but history has shown us that these things can be cyclical. Just look back at the 90s. I'm not making it up when I tell you that whatever happened in Dallas stayed in Dallas once the Texas/OU weekend was over. Hell, UofH might have been a greater, more obsessed over foe in the late 80s right up until Wally Pryor told the idiots to get off the goal post in 1990.
It's not that being the fourth biggest and most important game on the schedule this season means that the Sooners don't matter at all.
It just means they matter a lot less than they used to and I'm not sure when that is going to change.
No. 2 - How much pressure is on Joseph and Gideon?
With the commitment of former San Jose State starting cornerback Jay'Vion Cole on Sunday, you can see the pieces of the 2024 starting secondary starting to come together.
CB - Malik Muhammad
CB - Jay'Vion Cole
NB: - Jahdae Barron
S: Derek Williams
S: Andrew Mukuba
Oh, there are scenarios out there that could alter the complexion of the starting unit ... perhaps Cole struggles to acclimate to a new level and either Gavin Holmes or Barron (with Jaylon Guilbeau sliding into the nickel) take the starting spot opposite Muhammad, but if all goes according to plan, I think this is your starting five.
What we know about the defensive backfield is that it was not a plus-unit in 2023 and of all the reasons the Longhorns didn't play in a national championship game, the performance level of this group might have been the biggest. We know that Steve Sarkisian expects this group to be better. Hell, he bristled at the notion that the secondary struggled in the spring game this week in Houston when he was quizzed about it.
Make no mistake about it, a group that rated in the 100s in college football in pass coverage a year ago will be expected to be much, much, much ... MUCH better in 2024.
It means that a lot of eyeballs will be on DB coaches Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon to get more out of the group. Talent isn't an issue. At least four of the five starters (it's too early to draw conclusions about Cole) will be expected to play on Sundays down the road. Meanwhile, the pass rush should be much improved. Honestly, there really aren't any excuses at this point.
The job of Joseph and Gideon is to ensure that the level of play increases and if it doesn't, it feels like from my perspective (and others as well) that the coaches won't have gotten the most out of their players. It felt that way a year ago, but the talent of players like Jerrin Thompson, Terrance Brooks, Kitan Crawford and others were used as partial scapegoats for the failures.
That can't and won't happen in 2024. It's perceived that Muhammad and Cole will be upgrades over Brooks and Ryan Watts at cornerback, while Williams and Mukuba are viewed as enhancements at safety. Considering that neither Joseph or Gideon has established himself on the field the way some of their peers on the Texas coaching staff have already done, it's time that they remind everyone of why they are in the positions that they are in.
No one could say that it has really happened yet. That needs to change ... right now.
No. 3 – The weakest spots in the starting line-up ...
The recruitment of Damonic Williams and the quest to improve at the defensive tackle position got me to thinking about the weakest of the starting positions on both offense and defense.
What five positions need the biggest upgrades, if such an upgrade could be found?
Here's how I would rank them.
1. Defensive tackle
It's not that the spot opposite Alfred Collins hasn't improved through the transfer portal because former Arizona starter Bill Norton is an improvement over Vernon Broughton on paper, but the bottom line is that the Longhorns had top of the NFL Draft talent in this spot a season ago and it's unclear whether the Longhorns will go into the 2024 season with anyone in this spot that will play on Sundays, which represents a big drop from a season ago.
2. Punter
Do any of us really know who will be the starting punter once the season starts? True freshman Michael Kern arrives in the summer, but can you really expect him to go into the Big House and hold things down without so much as a single practice at this level being under his belt? Is there an option in the Portal that can allow Kern a season to settle in without the pressure of hopping into the fray from the moment he steps on campus?
3. Left Guard
Hayden Conner is solid, but this staff would like to have someone on the field that is better than solid. The problem is that the likes of Neto Umeozulu, Cole Hutson and others haven't proven that they can consistently be better than solid. If there's a weak spot along the offensive line, it feels like this is it.
4. Cornerback
Yes, the Longhorns have added Cole via the Portal and he was one of the best cornerbacks in the Mountain West last season, but the jump up to the SEC isn't a minor one and it's hard to know whether the Longhorns have a truly NFL-level player in that spot going into the season. I'm not sure that we quite think that about Gavin Holmes or Jahdae Barron (should he move outside from the slot). It's possible that this position has been sorted, but it's no sure thing.
5. SAM linebacker
Seniors David Gbenda and Mo Blackwell are solid players, but neither has proven to be a true standout and if there was ever a time when Anthony Hill isn't available to play, the overall linebacker group becomes very shaky when compared to other teams in the SEC.
No. 4 - Updated Scholarship Board...
Here's how things look after the last week.
Sitting at 82 scholarships and knowing that that number could drop (for non-football reasons) before August even if the Portal is closed, the Longhorns are in a position to continue shopping for players that might help in the 2024 season.
Scouring the nation for defensive tackle help is an obvious goal, but I would offer that finding a punter might be just as important when you consider all of the most capable defensive tackle options are off the table.
Beyond that, there's no harm in bringing in a few one-year rentals, knowing that you can wipe them from the scholarship ledger as soon as the season ends.
No. 5 - Spit-ballin' on last week's Draft ...
... It's the first time that I can remember that ALL of the Longhorns we speculated might get drafted actually were drafted. At best, we thought 11 guys might get drafted and they were off the board by the end of the sixth round. From my perspective, this says a lot about what the NFL thinks about the talent in the Texas program. The days of Texas players being undervalued because the program was perceived as soft are gone. If anything, it feels like Texas players were given more benefit of the doubt than anything else.
… Xavier Worthy literally landed in the single best spot he could land in. He brings the two-time defending champion Chiefs exactly what they need on offense, which is a player that can serve as a replica for Tyreek Hill and serve as a player that can put non-stop stress on defenses with his ability to take the top off the defense at any point. My expectations are that Worthy is going to be sensational with the Chiefs. Not good ... sensational.
... It was kind of stunning to see that Adonai Mitchell's incredible Combine performance mattered almost nothing when the Draft actually rolled around. You better believe I'll be paying attention to the nine receivers drafted ahead of him this year because it's hard to believe that he wasn't more valued.
... I'll admit to cracking up when T'Vondre Sweat went off the board in the second round to Tennessee. At the end of the day, can you ball out or not? That's what the NFL cares about.
... Keilan Robinson in the fifth round? Yeah, that one caught me off guard.
... Why in the hell was Jerry Jones so loud about his liking for Jonathon Brooks? Was he just being an old man? Playing good poker? Can it not be explained? Ultimately, I don't think the Cowboys were ever going to draft him, knowing that they were going to dip back in for ... gulp ... Zeke Elliott.
No. 6 – Texas Softball with a kill shot Tweet ...
Daaaaaaamn.
I guess when you don't ever plan to go back to a place again, you can say whatever you want and when you consider that the No. 1 Longhorns won their first outright Big 12 regular-season championship in softball since 20-freaking-10.
It's hard to believe that 14 years have passed since the Longhorns sat atop the Big 12, but here we are ... just as the Longhorns head out the door for the SEC. It took head coach Mike White six seasons to get to the top, but now that he's there, it feels like anything is possible this season.
Heading into the post-season, the bar is to win the whole damn thing. No pressure, ladies, but when you're ranked No. 1 and won a conference that has Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in it, simply making the CWS isn't enough.
The real season is about to begin.
No. 7 – Two out of three... again …
At the end of the day, it was a good weekend for Texas baseball, Sunday withstanding.
Knowing that the Longhorns are sitting on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, being able to take two of three from an Oklahoma State team that sits in the top 20 is a nice feather in the Tournament Resume cap.
What does it mean? Maybe nothing in the larger scheme of things, but at the very least it should help the Longhorns get into the NCAA Tournament. That's something, right?
More than anything, watching Texas play at the level that it did for most of the weekend makes all of the damaging Q4 losses hard to swallow.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) Probably. He's just a good to very good player and wasn't at the level of a player that would likely change the final record of the 2024 Longhorns. That being said, the issues that might ... might ... exist won't be so funny if it causes this team to lose games on the schedule in December and January.
(Sell) No one wants to watch baseball or basketball videos on YouTube. That might the hurt the feelings of a few of you, but not many based on the traffic from videos that we've done that focus on the things you're suggesting receive focus. I'm not sure you have a grasp of the thirst-trapping powers of the Portal on YouTube.
This isn't really a Buy or Sell question, but you can't really circumvent the 85-man scholarship limit with NIL power. Once a player is recruited as a scholarship player, you can't just roll them into the walk-on program. For instance, no player that comes on an official visit can be counted as anything other than someone on the 85-man scholarship map.
(Buy) I don't think the concern is that it drops the team into the abyss, it's that in the games that will define the success of the season it will prove to be a limitation that causes limitations.
(Sell) I really don't know what you're talking about with regards to Much ado About Nothing drama we see every couple of months. It's a premium message board that is obsessed with the fine details of Texas football. It will always obsess on perceived areas of concern.
p.s. The drama is not settled. We still don't have gas and had to go to my mom's house today to take showers. It'll be that way until Wednesday because we missed the gas man in person last week.
(Sell) Really bad?
(Sell) No one cares outside of a few Texas football fans.
(Sell) Do I need to be in Kingwood?
(Sell) 2.5
(Sell) Only if you think the NIL machine needs to spend whatever it needs to at all times, everything else be damned.
(Sell) Besting Cat is a Mount Olympus type climb.
(Sell) He might be in a month, though.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... Honestly, I don't know what to think of the Dallas draft results from last week. On one hand, I want to give them some earned benefit of the doubt because it is somewhat earned over the last decade. On the other hand, it kind of reminds me of the 2000 Draft when the Cowboys basically focused on improving the defensive backfield at all costs. With three offensive linemen and some other guys ... I'll hope for the best.
... Zeke Elliott is the plan? He averaged 3.5 yards per carry last year after averaging 3.8 yards per carry in his last season with the Cowboys. Good grief.
... I did not know this...
... Is Anthony Edwards the prince that NBA fans were promised?
... Boston is going to curb stomp Cleveland in round two.
... Maybe ... maybe ... Darvin Ham was just a bad hire and not remotely what the Lakers needed at head coach this season. Maybe?
... Consider me to be a very frustrated Sixers fan. Hey, at least I have the Phillies.
... I have just two more games of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
... Madonna still pulls a crowd in Brazil like it's 1995.
... I gotta find a way to get my butt into a movie theater this week so that I can see The Fall Guy, but I have to admit, part of me wants to see Challengers even more.
No. 10 - Top 10: Kendrick Lamar ...
Given the events of this weekend in the continued feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, it feels like a good time to update my Top 10 K-Dot list.
I'll admit that his career hasn't quite been what I wanted it to be when I first came across his music in 2011, but there's no questioning his greatness after everything he's done from the last decade. That his career might end up being remembered most for what is happening in real-time with his crushing of Drake is kind of hard to believe.
For all of the abstract art he's made, a lot of the world is going to remember him for battle rap. Who saw that coming?
Anyways, let's get to it.
Honorable Mention: m.A.A.d city, Rigamortus, Backstreet Freestyle, Fear, Keisha’s Song, The Blacker The Berry, Ronald Reagan Era, Untitled 05 (09.21.2014), Sing About Me, I'm Dying, King Kunta, Mother I Sober, Untitled (06.23.2014), These Walls, Loyalty, Cartoon and Cereal, Duckworth and Element
10. I
My favorite track on To Pimp a Butterfly album.
9. The Heart Part 5
The best song on his 2022 Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers album. I have to admit that the video that came with it help plant some of the confirmation bias towards the song when making this list. It's pure art.
8. Humble.
Kendrick's second No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 and a track that ended up winning a 2018 Grammy for Best Rap Song
7. Alright
It's not my favorite jam of all-time, but it's a cultural anthem that can't be ignored when discussing his catalog.
6. A.D.H.D.
One of two songs from his debut album Section 80
5. Money Trees
One of three songs from Good Kid, M.A.A.D City that make my top 5, which says a lot about the album and how much I gravitated to it when it came out.
4. Not Like Us
Yes, the song only came out this weekend, but it's probably the best club banger he's ever produced and it might serve as the most memorable obliteration of Drake from this current 2024 feud. It feels like a checkmate moment.
3. Swimming Pools (Drank)
Another track from GKMC. It's a whole vibe.
2. HiiiPower
I'm probably outside the normal perspective when it comes to ranking this song this high, but it's Kendrick as unleashed with abandon as you're going to find. It's the song that made me fall for his music.
1. Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe
There's not a rap song from the last 15 years that I have listened to more when I'm chilling on a weekend and don't want to be bothered. It's my jam.
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