The 2024 college football regular season sets after Week 14 as all 13 FBS programs in the Lone Star State are in action for the final time. The headliner is obvious as long-standing rivals Texas and Texas A&M meet in the Lone Star Showdown for the first time in over a decade. As if the stakes weren’t high enough in College Station on Saturday night, the winner advances to play in the SEC championship game against Georgia. 

But that’s not the only meaningful contest involving a Texas team. North Texas hopes to join the nine teams in the state that are already bowl eligible with a win over Temple. Baylor and Kansas meet in a game between two of the hottest teams in the Big 12. And Sam Houston hosts Liberty with a shot at reaching the Conference USA title game with a win and a Jax State victory over Western Kentucky. 

FIVE QUESTIONS 

1. Who wins the Lone Star Showdown? 

The greatest rivalry in the Southwest returns Saturday night in College Station when the Longhorns travel the 90 miles east to face the Aggies. Varsity won the last one in 2011 when Justin Tucker’s field goal sealed a 27-25 victory. The Farmers get homefield advantage in the first matchup as SEC rivals. Extra stakes were added to this edition when the SEC confirmed that the winner of the Lone Star Showdown faces Georgia in the SEC championship game in Atlanta on Dec. 7. 

But this one didn’t need any extra seasoning to reach ghost pepper hot. It rarely does when these two teams battle, but especially so after a 13-season hiatus. Texas leads the all-time series 76-37-5. The Longhorns enter the 2024 version as favorites with one foot in the door of their second College Football Playoff berth in a row. The Aggies need to win, and maybe even beat Georgia, to reach the first 12-team field. 

Games of emotion are typically won in the margins. Which team handles the atmosphere with more poise? Which team avoids turnovers and costly penalties? Which team wins the physical battle in the trenches? 

Don’t turn this into rocket science. Texas’ turnover margin is +7 while Texas A&M’s is +4. The Horns are penalized for an average of 52.6 yards per game while the Aggies are at 66.3 – 115th nationally. Texas has also played in these types of games more recently, having reached the Sugar Bowl after winning the Big 12 championship game last year. Quinn Ewers’ ankle is a wild card, but give us Texas by a touchdown. 

2. Can North Texas get bowl eligible? 

Reaching bowl games wasn’t enough for Seth Littrell, who was fired despite playing in six bowls during his seven seasons at the helm in North Texas. The Mean Green’s ambitions as an AAC program are higher than six- or seven-win seasons. They want to compete for conference titles and spots in the College Football Playoff. And they should. North Texas is a big school with a large alumni base located 30 minutes from some of the best talent in America.

The program hired Eric Morris to reach new heights. Not instantly, but to prove the trajectory was there after a couple of seasons. Business was booming after a 5-1 start to the season. A bowl bid was seemingly a given and hopes in Denton, America turned toward conference contention. Flash-forward to Week 14 and the Mean Green are on a five-game losing streak and must beat Temple on Saturday to reach 6-6 and become eligible for a bowl. 

3. Does Sam Houston pull the upset? 

The Bearkats took a huge step forward in Year 2 as an FBS program. They started 0-8 in 2023. They’re now 8-3 with a shot at playing in the Conference USA championship heading into the final week of the season. But to take the next step, Sam Houston must score more points. Playing well defensively while slogging through low-scoring affairs can beat the FIUs and La Techs of the conference, but not the Jax States and Western Kentuckys. And probably not Liberty – the Week 14 opponent. 

A win over Liberty coupled with a Jax State victory over WKU sends Sam Houston to the CUSA championship game. The Bearkats haven’t scored over 17 points in regulation since the Oct. 3 win over UTEP, however. They scored 14 against WKU and 11 versus Jax State in losses. They’ll need at least 20 to knock off Liberty.   

4. Which teams stays hotter: Baylor or Kansas? 

The last time the Bears lost was on Oct. 5 at Iowa State. The last time the Jayhawks lost was Oct. 26 at Kansas State, but their last three wins are against Iowa State, BYU, and Colorado – all Big 12 contenders at the time they played Kansas. These are the two hottest teams in America’s wackiest conference (outside of Arizona State). A win for Kansas sends the program to a bowl game and saves a rocky campaign. A win for Baylor puts the Bears at 8-4 and drives a nail into a hell of a construction job by the staff. 

5. Will UTEP close with a win? 

The Miners can look 733 miles east to Huntsville for hope in 2024. The Bearkats started 0-8 in Year 1 as an FBS program in Conference USA, but they closed strong, winning three of their last four, including the season’s last game against Middle Tennessee. That brought Sam Houston’s 2023 record to 3-9. The program is 8-3 entering Week 12 of 2024 with a chance at reaching the CUSA championship game. 

UTEP can carry similar momentum into the offseason. A win in the “Battle of I-10” against New Mexico State would put first-year head coach Scotty Walden’s Miners at 3-9 on the season after an 0-6 start to his tenure. They are 2-2 in the last four against Conference USA opponents with reasonable arguments for three or four wins during that stretch if quarterback Skyler Locklear wasn’t injured.