While Texas was taken out of playoff contention weeks ago, last week’s win over Kansas State proved that there’s still a lot to be excited about for the remainder of the 2022 season.

The Longhorns became bowl-eligible with their win over the Wildcats, checking off another important item on their to-do list. Texas can still earn that second spot in the Big 12 title game, especially if it beats TCU on Saturday. 

This time last year, Texas was in the middle of a losing streak that would ultimately stifle its chances at having a postseason. 

In fact, this week marked the one-year anniversary of the infamous Bo Davis rant from last year’s game against Iowa State. The leaked video was secretly recorded on the team bus after the Horns’ demoralizing 30-7 loss to Iowa State. Davis, Texas’ defensive line coach, used about 16 profanities in the 47-second video, in which he rightfully criticized players for not taking the game seriously. (Most of what Davis said probably shouldn’t be printed, but the video can still be found on YouTube.) 

But now, things look much different. And much better. 

Texas is hosting No. 4 TCU at home on Saturday night as it looks for its first top-five home win since 1999. While a daunting task, outsiders seem to believe that Texas can knock out the potential College Football Playoff contender. Texas is currently a seven-point favorite over TCU. 

Although this season isn’t perfect, people believe in Texas’ ability to execute. Including highly sought-after recruits. 

Earlier this week, former Oklahoma commit and Westlake product Colton Vasek announced that he intends to play for Texas. Vasek is a four-star recruit and helped Westlake win the 2021 6A D-II state title. He was also named the defensive MVP of the state title game in Westlake’s 40-21 win over Denton Guyer. 

Five-star linebacker Anthony Hill, who recently decommitted from Texas A&M, is planning on visiting Texas for Saturday’s game. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and linebackers coach Jeff Choate were spotted at one of Hill’s high school games back in September, despite Hill verbally committing to Texas A&M in July. 

Hill’s visit, at the very least, is a sign that the next generation of college football stars are taking notice of Texas’ recent success. If Texas is able to hand TCU its first loss of the season, then the momentum will only continue to grow. 

While momentum doesn’t necessarily mean that a team will perform extraordinarily well, it gives people hope for their team. And that’s part of the beauty of college football. 

Come January, only one team will hold the title of the 2022 College Football National Champion. While it is impossible for Texas to be the team that will raise the trophy at SoFi Stadium, the recruiting wave that is coming in with its recent success is enough for fans to believe that maybe, just maybe, Texas will once again be crowned a national champion sometime soon. 

But before that conversation should even happen, Texas has business to take care of on Saturday.