Twelve of the 13 FBS programs in the Lone Star State are in action during Week 5 with a winless UTEP idle. Texas remains the head of the class with the only undefeated record of the bunch and ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25. Texas Tech, Texas A&M, SMU, North Texas, Sam Houston, and Texas State sit with one blemish through four weeks of the season. TCU and UTSA are 2-2.

The Longhorns begin life as an SEC program at home against Mississippi State. Sam Houston and Texas State renew a century-old rivalry at NRG Stadium in Houston. TCU and Baylor hope to replace poor memories from Week 4 with rebound efforts in Week 5. 

Here is what I’m pondering heading into the weekend. 

1. Where does Texas A&M rank in the SEC pecking order? 

Each of the 16 SEC members will have played at least one conference game by the end of Week 5. Mike Elko’s Aggies will either be 2-0 with wins over Florida and Arkansas, or 1-1 with a loss to the Razorbacks. The Week 5 result in Jerry World might serve as a fulcrum moment for this team. A win sets up the Aggies to be a mid-tier squad with the talent to punch above its weight against a struggling Mizzou or LSU at home. A loss suggests the 2024 season is more about fighting for bowl eligibility than prominence. 

The upper echelon of the league feels out of reach for the 2024 version of Texas A&M. Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee are national title contenders. No one in the 12th Man can expect the Elko Era to start with those expectations. However, the second tier of the league is within striking distance. The Aggies become a Top 20 team with a Week 5 win over Arkansas to set up a contender eliminator at home against Mizzou in Week 6. 

2. Can Baylor rebound from a heartbreaking loss? 

Football is an emotional game and losing in devastating fashion can leave residue that’s hard to erase. The Bears were within two seconds of escaping Boulder with a win over Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes. Instead, Shedeur Sanders had his Hail Mary answered and Travis Hunter launched his Heisman campaign with a forced fumble at the goal line in overtime to win the game for Colorado. 

Baylor returns home to Waco as 2.5-point favorites against a surging BYU squad that beat up Kansas State and SMU already this season. Everyone knows the deal for Dave Aranda and Baylor – he’s coaching for his job in 2024. The loss to Colorado won’t seal his fate. A bad home loss against BYU might. 

3. Will Texas Tech continue home success in game against Cincinnati? 

Joey McGuire is 13-3 at Jones AT&T Stadium a third of the way through Year 3 in Lubbock. He’s 3-9 on the road. Luckily for the Red Raiders, the Week 5 clash against the Bearkats is in West Texas. Tech enters the game as a three-point favorite, which means the books believe this is a coin-flip game for McGuire & Co. They don’t face a ranked team until Nov. 2 on the road against the Cyclones. 

4. Is Texas State or Sam Houston the best G5 team in Texas? 

The first football game between Sam Houston and Texas State was in 1915. They were conference mates at different stops for over 60 years. That ended when the Bobcats left FCS for the FBS in 2012. The century-old rivalry renews because the Bearkats joined the FBS party as Conference USA members in 2024. The two teams are a combined 5-0 against non-P4 on the season with each holding a win over an intrastate squad. Sam Houston blasted Rice in Week 1 while Texas State stomped UTSA in Week 2. The winner remains in the hunt for the College Football Playoff spot rewarded to the best G5 squad. 

5. Has TCU hit rock bottom? 

The last two weeks have left most Frog fans miserable. The pain began when TCU blew a 21-point second-half lead at home to UCF and grew when head coach Sonny Dykes was ejected during a loss at SMU where his squad allowed 66 points. A loss at Kansas would be three straight and signal panic time in Fort Worth. Dykes began his TCU tenure 10-0 against Power Five schools but has gone 5-11 in those games beginning with the Big 12 championship loss to Iowa State.