FWST: TCU, Houston coaches should love their AP poll position
BY JIMMY BURCHÂ jburch@star-telegram.com
Truth be known, two coaches with the biggest reasons to celebrate Sunday’s placement in The Associated Press’ preseason college football poll have Texas addresses.
TCU coach Gary Patterson, whose team opened at No. 13, oversees the top-ranked team in the Lone Star State. Houston’s Tom Herman, whose team harbors College Football Playoff aspirations despite playing in a non-Power Five league, opened at No. 15.
Bottom line: Both teams ranked high enough to please their fan bases because they’re well ahead of unranked squads from Texas and Texas A&M, as well as No. 23 Baylor. But neither maintained its top-10 status from last year’s final poll, when TCU finished No. 7 and Houston was No. 8.