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Sunday, November 30, 1997

Miserable college football regular season finally over for state

By JAIME ARON / AP Sports Writer

DALLAS (AP) -- Maybe it was fitting that a technical problem caused television viewers to miss about 25 minutes of the Texas-Texas A&M game.

After all, the entire season seemed like one big blackout for almost all of Texas' 10 Division I-A college football teams.

The Texas Longhorns suffered the worst home loss in their 105-year history, new Baylor coach Dave Roberts called his Bears "probably about as bad a football team as there is right now in America," a scandal forced Texas Tech to pull out of postseason consideration and Texas Christian lost 10 straight before finally winning.

That lone TCU victory ruined what could've been among the best Cinderella stories in many years: the resurrection of Southern Methodist. The Mustangs had their first winning season since returning from the death penalty, but being 6-5 instead of 7-4 likely will keep them home this postseason.

Face it. Division I-A football teams in Texas couldn't get much right this season.

All told, the 10 Texas teams from the Big 12, the Western Athletic Conference, Conference USA and the Big West went a combined 46-64, a pathetic .418 winning percentage and a huge step backward from last year's 54-57.

Take out the nine head-to-head games and the record sinks to 37-55 (.402).

Big 12 South champion Texas A&M is the state's only ranked team, at No. 15. The Aggies' 9-2 record by far stands out as the state's best.

They may be the state's lone bowl team, too. Where A&M goes won't be decided until after Saturday's Big 12 title game against Nebraska in San Antonio.

ABC will televise the game and, this time, the network hopes to show all four quarters. Heavy rains in College Station on Friday led to an electrical problem that kept nearly a half hour of A&M's 27-16 victory off the air.

Only three other Texas teams had the six wins needed to qualify for a bowl. Rice went 7-4 and Texas Tech and SMU were each 6-5.

The state's other six schools didn't even come close to a winning record. Texas, Texas-El Paso and North Texas went 4-7, Houston went 3-8, Baylor was 2-9 and TCU was 1-10.

In all, six teams had worse records than last year. Texas and Houston, both of whom were 7-4 in the 1996 regular season, fell the furthest.

The Longhorns won the Big 12 South last season, then knocked off Nebraska in the Big 12 title game, only to face big loss after big loss. The 66-3 defeat to UCLA was the worst, although losses to Missouri and Baylor also hurt, especially when opposing fans tore down the goalposts. On Saturday, the steep slide cost coach John Mackovic his job after six seasons.

The Cougars were the surprise champions of the inaugural Conference USA in 1996, but coach Kim Helton couldn't continue the magic this year.

A&M had the biggest improvement from last season, rebounding from a 6-6 year to try re-establishing itself on a national level. A victory over the Cornhuskers would be a huge step.

SMU coach Mike Cavan did a wonderful job tearing down the leftover damage from the Tom Rossley era and beginning to rebuild a once-proud program. He quickly overcame the hurdle of teaching the Mustangs how to win, although the stumble at the end was a bit deflating.

Texas Christian is shopping for a new coach. Pat Sullivan resigned during the season, allowing the Horned Frogs to start fresh next season.

They won't be the only ones.