Bohls: Anything short of the Big 12 title game will be a failure for Texas

While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:

1. Good for Devin Duvernay for being honest. The senior wide receiver on Tuesday said he and his Texas teammates have always made winning the Big 12 championship their primary goal for 2019, and “anything short of that is kind of a failure. I feel it would be be” bad if they don’t at least return to Arlington. “It’s what we’ve worked for.” I think the Longhorns, who are ranked 19th in the new CFP standings, played their best game of the year against Kansas State. “It’s probably right up there,” Duvernay said. … Nose tackle Keondre Coburn said, “If people forgot about us, that’s their loss.” ... Texas is the only Big 12 team that Iowa State coach Matt Campbell has not beaten in his four seasons.

2. Huge upset on Tuesday. Texas kicker/free spirit Cameron Dicker showed up for the press conference fully dressed. I know some former players were bothered by his unbuttoned shirt as he walked into the locker room and tweeted so, but I thought it was funny. Dicker, who had the eighth walk-off game-winning field goal in school history Saturday, said, “It is what it is. People didn’t understand the context (he said he was in a hurry to get in his uniform.) They (critics) can take it as they want.” … Asked about the whereabouts of freshman Jake Smith, who hasn’t caught a pass in two of the last three games, Duvernay said, “Nowhere. I couldn’t tell you. Has he lost confidence? Not that I know of.” … Sam Ehlinger took Texas on the fifth game-winning drive in his career, tying Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Case McCoy with that production and just two behind Major Applewhite’s seven such marches.

3. I like Shaka Smart’s team and think Texas will make the NCAA Tournament for the third time in his five seasons. “I like the way his team is playing,” athletic director Chris Del Conte told me. “The last three minutes of the Purdue win told me a lot about the grit of team and unity of team. It’s a long season, but I’m excited about this team and where they're going. They were fantastic. Shaka’s confident. He feels good about his team, and he likes his players. He feels loose.” Smart has a lot of options, a ton of athleticism and no one-and-done player that could distract the team. You might say Matt Coleman is not going to score 22 points every game — Smart said he’d “lead the country if he does” — but he won’t have to. Backcourt teammate Courtney Ramey went scoreless in his four missed shots, but that will be very rare. Texas’ win over Purdue on Saturday was the biggest of his four-plus-year tenure in Austin. Do not be surprised if Texas wins 20 games this season.

4. Rough start for Karen Aston’s women’s basketball team that dropped its season-opener to South Florida on the road. Hard to say which problem stood out the most because her Longhorns made only one of nine treys, had 17 turnovers and watched the Bulls close out the game on a 15-5 run. “It was a tough one to swallow,” Aston said. “We took the lead, but we didn’t finish. We’ve got to figure out how to be a lot tougher without fouling.”

5. Aston declined to discuss the harsh comments made by former Longhorns center Sedona Prince, who transferred to Oregon after unhappiness over the medical treatment of her leg injury. Prince said in a recent podcast that she felt “very unsafe” and “neglected” in her short time at Texas. “I felt very alone through my entire process, and I felt very unsafe to the point where I couldn’t — for my career and my body that I’m going to have the rest of my life — I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t be there and allow myself to be hurt any more, allow myself to be neglected anymore.” I understand Aston not lashing out at a former player, and UT is declining to discuss the serious charges. Aston is very well-liked, but her program is going in the wrong direction, further back in Baylor’s considerable shadow. Aston has had five players transfer, including one entire, three-player recruiting class, which is a bad look. She did say the transfer portal “has created a different environment in sports. I’m from the world where you’re supposed to commit and stick with it despite what goes awry. That’s the way I’ve always felt about things. Joyner Holmes has been through some times where she’s said what’s going on, but she has stuck with it. She finished what she’s started. I appreciate that and any player who’s done that.” However, Aston has taken a few transfers of her own the last two years, including former Texas Aggie Danni Williams and sophomore Karisma Ortiz from Penn State.

6. Don’t look now, but Jerritt Elliott’s women’s volleyball team has won 12 straight matches — 11 of them sweeps — and is ranked No. 1 in the nation and is looking good to become one of the top four seeds. He even thinks Baylor could wind up in that same group if the Bears have no other losses but to Texas (they play again Nov. 20 in Waco). “They don’t have any bad losses,” Elliott said. “The rest of us all have a nick or two. It’d be great for our conference. A&M could be a top-16 seed. Maybe Rice could, too.”

7. Remember when SEC teams used to play defense? Big 12 teams were regularly lambasted around the nation for such inflated scores, but I didn’t hear a whisper about poor defense in LSU’s 46-41 win over Alabama. Just shows what can happen even in the SEC, whose new motto is Defense Used to Just Mean More. Did you see the Baylor-TCU game ended at 9-9 in regulation? Great defense. … Poor Alabama. Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t 100%. Say what? Don’t all 130 FBS teams have injuries or just the Crimson Tide? ... Love Minnesota climbing to No. 8 in the new CFP standings.

8. Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to former Longhorns kicker Kris Stockton, who had a game-winning field goal against Iowa State in 1999.

9. Watched “Skybound,” a less-than-thrilling thriller with cheesy dialogue but modestly entertaining about five passengers on a flight in the middle of nuclear devastation of America. Gave it four ducks.

10. Crazy prediction: The Pac-12 will earn the No. 4 berth in the CFP.

Looking back at Kirk’s crazy prediction from Nov. 14, 2018 — that the Houston Texans would sign running back Le’Veon Bell in the offseason.

That didn’t happen. Bell signed with the New York Jets; the Texans signed Carlos Hyde. This season, Bell has rushed for 449 yards and two touchdowns and Hyde has 704 yards and three touchdowns.

How crazy was he?