The week of a new football season is the peak-excitement level for every fan. But not all peaks are of equal height on the mountain range of expectation.

Here is a ranking of how optimistic each fan base of a Texas FBS program is heading into 2024.

1. Texas Longhorns – Paul Rudd on Hot Wings saying, 'Look at us.'

Texas is coming off a College Football Playoff appearance and enters the nation’s premier conference with the silverback gorilla of underachievement off its back. The schedule is loaded with exciting games and head coach Steve Sarkisian has the program rolling. Running back injuries have put a damper on fall camp, but come Week 1, DKR will be packed with fans expecting a championship contending season.

2. Texas State Bobcats – The Monday of Prom Week

This season’s going to be the best of our young, hot FBS lives. Texas State is picked to play for the Fun Belt championship. They’ve got a high-powered offense led by a conference player of the year at quarterback. Sure, this is the first time head coach GJ Kinne has been at the same place two consecutive years and the best offensive player (Ismail Mahdi) and defensive player (Ben Bell) are upperclassmen unlikely to return. They might go their separate ways after, but San Marcos will always have this year.

3. SMU Mustangs – The sophomore called up to Varsity

The Mustangs dominated the American Athletic Conference last season. They had an explosive offense, per usual, but the defense improved dramatically to 11th in the nation, allowing 17.8 points per game. After excelling on the Group of Five stage, SMU is ready for the call up to Power Four football. Of course, there are a couple butterflies because of the 0–3 record against P4 teams last season. But SMU has spent four decades preparing for this moment.

4. Texas A&M Aggies – The Wednesday after a two-day hangover

Aggie fans woke up Monday morning bleary-eyed with a pounding head and nervously checked their phone. Wait, I gave him a fake national championship trophy? I spent how much money? The Jimbo Fisher era was a blur. But after a couple days, they’ve put the past, and headache, behind them. No more red carpets and marching bands, Mike Elko’s about on-field wins.

5. Texas Tech Red Raiders – There's only a 30% chance of rain on the family beach trip

Everything is in place for an awesome afternoon. The schedule is favorable, the offensive skill positions are stacked and the linebacker room could be one of the Big 12's best. The only storm on the forecast that could possibly derail Texas Tech is the health of quarterback Behren Morton, who had a season-ending injury in 2022, played most of the season injured in 2023 and was shut down in spring football to rehab. The Red Raiders need Morton, because they don't have a backup quarterback on the roster who can lead them to Big 12 title contention this year.

6. UTSA Roadrunners – Laying my fit out before the first day of school

UTSA's posted a 32–9 record over the past three seasons. While the Roadrunners are picked second in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, there are a number of college football fans who believe UTSA will take a step back without quarterback Frank Harris, wide receiver Joshua Cephus and safety Rashad Wisdom. This is the year when Jeff Traylor proves he's built a program in San Antonio instead of a team dependent on a few stars.

7. TCU Horned Frogs – Walking into a test you actually studied for this time

After the National Championship appearance, Sonny Dykes gave his depleted team three weeks off before preparing for the 2023 season. A well-intended break turned into TCU playing catch-up for the rest of the year, constantly behind in preparation compared to other teams. After learning from that mistake and conducting a normal offseason, TCU is confident it'll compete in the Big 12's upper tier.

8. Rice Owls – The sixth attempt by the Sandlot kids to get the Babe Ruth-signed ball from Hercules' backyard with an electric catapult

Mike Bloomgren's tenure has been a long, slow build, but no one can deny the progress. When he arrived in 2018, the bottom half of the roster was unplayable. Each season, his roster building efforts have shifted the baseball from inside Hercules' dog house to right next to the fence. The Owls have made a bowl game in back-to-back seasons, and the roster is the most intact team in Texas. This season has to be the one where they win a bowl game. If not, Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez is going to have to go in himself.

9. North Texas Mean Green – When your kid falls off the playscape but only has a small bruise

North Texas got gashed last season, finishing last in the nation in total defense. Then their 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver all transferred after the year. On the surface it seems like disaster scenario after disaster scenario. But a closer look reveals a program that played the top three teams in the American Athletic Conference to a one-score game. Head coach Eric Morris can scheme an offense to 35 points per game. If the defense can get to double-digits in total yards allowed nationally, watch out.

10. Baylor Bears – One week post-Intervention

Look, Baylor lost its way last season. The offense was anemic, the defense shoddy and the atmosphere grim. But Dave Aranda came to Baylor's leadership and proposed a former offensive-minded head coach take over at offensive coordinator while he took on the defensive playcalling. Baylor also leaned into NIL with its "We Pay Players" shirts at Fall Camp, and they had one of the hottest recruiting summers in the Big 12. New Year, New Bears. There's change in Waco.

11. Sam Houston Bearkats – The relief of waking up post-nightmare

Sam Houston went 0-8 to kick off its FBS foray, losing five games by five plays. Last season felt like a doomed year, but the Bearkats clawed back to win three of their last four games in what head coach KC Keeler described as one of the most rewarding seasons of his career. Now heading into Year Two in Conference USA, fans can convince themselves last season was an aberration to Sam Houston's championship-contending ways. 

12. UTEP Miners – Third date anticipation

A favorite saying on the Republic of Football podcast: a new head coach is like a new girlfriend, the complete opposite of the one you were just with. Scotty Walden is a walking Celsius can, from painting his chest at a basketball game to crowd surfing in the UTEP weight room. He also signed the best class in Conference USA in just a couple months. Walden won the offseason, and the fans responded by showing up 3,000-deep to UTEP's Spring Game. But now comes the third date - the football season. It's time to set the standard of this relationship.

13. Houston Cougars – My apocalypse bunker has more than enough snacks to last through this season

Willie Fritz has won at every level. He earned two junior college national championships at Blinn, 11 winning seasons in 13 years at Missouri State, two-consecutive Southland Conference championships with Sam Houston, and a Cotton Bowl victory at Tulane. But the current cupboard is bare at Houston after getting raided in the transfer portal. It'll be a long season, but buy stock in December. 

A correction was made on Aug. 28: Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi is a junior, not a senior as originally stated. DCTF regrets this error.