Kevin Sherrington, sports columnist for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, answered questions about college football in a recent live chat. See some of the highlights below.
Do you think Texas can get its shot at a revenge game vs. OU in the Big 12 championship?
Sherrington: I don't see any other serious challengers. We'll know more about Baylor after the Oklahoma State game. Basically, the Big 12 looks like Oklahoma, then Texas, then everybody else. Unless the Texas secondary starts tackling better and the Longhorns figure out how to corral Jalen Hurts, I don't see how there would be any difference at JerryWorld. If not for Hurts' turnovers in the first half, that could have been a blowout.
SMU has a tough stretch of games coming up, if they remain undefeated through the next 3 games, do they start inching their noses into the CFB playoff convo?
Sherrington: Inching, I think, is the appropriate term. And they're going to have to do more than "inch" to make up the necessary ground. Look at UCF and its CFP hopes a couple years ago. The Mustangs have had a great season so far, but they're about to enter the toughest part of it. If they finish 9-3 or better, it'll be a terrific season. Eight wins will still look good, but it'll be harder to see it that way after such a great start.
What do you think it would take to pull Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma?
Sherrington: Probably about $10 million a year, I’d guess. But coaching the Cowboys, the team he grew up loving in his home state, might hold a little more sway than any other job. Here’s the thing to remember: Most of us don’t know what a coach really wants. Riley could probably stay at OU the rest of his life. He’s that good. He’s also apparently good with recruiting. But would he want to do that for the rest of his career? You could say he can wait for another opportunity, but who knows if that comes? Maybe he looks at the Cowboys roster and sees a talented young team on the rise. If the job comes open and he doesn’t take an offer, who knows if the right opportunity ever comes again? We’ll see what happens.
See the full chat here.