No matter if your team is competing for the College Football Playoff, fighting to make a bowl game or just trying to salvage a season, everyone has something to be thankful for. Here's one thing each Texas fan base should bring up at Thanksgiving dinner if asked what they think about the season.

Power Four

Texas – Jahdae Barron 

The Horns’ claim to “DBU” became a running punchline as Texas slipped further and further into mediocrity in the secondary over the last 10-15 years. Texas was 116th in passing defense in 2023 and 90th in 2022. The Longhorns are second in the country in pass defense this year, thanks in large part to former nickel Jahdae Barron’s transformation into a lockdown cornerback. He and Manny Muhammad are the best cornerback tandem in college football and it’s allowed defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski to unleash the rest of the defensive talent on opponent. (Mike Craven)

Texas A&M – Social media revolts 

The Aggies were moments from hiring Kentucky’s Mark Stoops as its next head football coach before a social media storm, and one behind the scenes led by some board members, changed the direction of the program for the better. Texas A&M flipped focus to Duke’s Mike Elko, a former defensive coordinator in College Station. He’s cleaned up the mess left by his former boss, Jimbo Fisher, and has the Aggies one win away from their first berth into the SEC championship game.  (Craven)

SMU – The transfer portal 

The Ponies are locked into one of the two ACC championship game spots and are flirting with a berth into the College Football Playoffs in Year 1 as a Power Four program. The main reason? The transfer portal. SMU has money to splash and has used it to reinforce the trenches on both sides of the ball and find playmakers. The team’s leading rusher, Brashard Smith, is a transfer, as are eight of the team’s top 10 leaders in receptions. Key defenders such as Elijah Roberts, Jared Harrison-Hunte, Ahmad Walker, and Jonathan McGill are also transfers. (Craven)

Baylor – Backups

Baylor is shopping for a new head coach on Black Friday if not for quarterback Sawyer Robertson and running back Bryson Washington upgrading from the sideline to the starting lineup. Robertson is eighth in the country in QBR, while Washington has rushed for over 100 yards in four of the last five games. Baylor's gone from it being so over at 2-4 to never being more back. The Bears are on their longest win streak since the 2021 Big 12 Championship season. (CarterYates)

Houston – Willie Fritz talent evaluation

Five of Houston's top seven tacklers on defense are transfers brought in by Fritz, and four of them came from the Group of Five ranks. Linebacker Michael Batton, a ULM import, leads the team with 86 tackles, while former Tulane edge rusher Keith Cooper Jr. ranks first with 3.5 sacks and is tied for second with eight tackles for loss. Fritz's track record shows that he can find talent in the G5 ranks without relying on bidding wars for P4 transfers. (Yates)

TCU – Alphadog Savion Williams

Savion Williams was a mainstay on Bruce Feldmen's "Freaks" List but not always a mainstay on the stat sheet before this year. While he hasn't had a 100-yard receiving game this year, he's made plenty of NFL money for himself by lining up at Wildcat QB and jump starting TCU's rushing attack. Williams has led the team in rushing in four of the last five games, and the Horned Frogs have rode him to a 4-1 record in that stretch. (Yates)

"I'm just so proud of him and the way he's developed, how he's grown into being the guy," TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said after a 49-28 win over Arizona. "That's a hard thing to learn to do sometimes, where you're kind of the guy and the team really relies on you. He's accepted that role." (Yates)

Texas Tech – Tahj Time (Honorable Mention: The Matador Club)

Texas Tech may have portaled a new platoon of wide receivers, but there was no secret about its offensive identity this season. Tahj Brooks handed out 'Tahj Tokens' at Big 12 Media Days. Head coach Joey McGuire told everyone that would listen that Brooks was getting 1,167 yards, which would break the program's all-time leading rushing record. Brooks shattered the record and has rushed for over 100 yards in 18 of his last 21 games dating back to last season. 

The Matador Club, Texas Tech's NIL department, also deserves credit for providing Brooks a financial opportunity to stay for a super-senior season instead of declaring for the NFL Draft. (Yates)

Group of Five

UTSA – Culture 

The Roadrunners looked lost after a collapse against Tulsa pushed the record to 3-5 as the program reached a tipping point. Either UTSA would respond and go on a run, or Jeff Traylor’s program would pack it in and worry about 2025. The squad chose the former. The Roadrunners have won three straight, including its first win over a ranked team in program history when it knocked off Memphis. Victories over North Texas and Temple allowed them to get bowl eligible for the fifth straight year under Traylor and build real momentum into an AAC push next season with Owen McCown as quarterback.  (Craven)

North Texas – Points 

The vibes are low in Denton, America entering Week 14. The Mean Green began the season 5-1 and looked like a team that could compete in a wide-open AAC. Instead, they’ve lost five straight and are in a must-win game against Temple on the last weekend of the season. North Texas fired defensive coordinator Matt Caponi after the loss to UTSA. Still, the offense gives the program hope in the future. They’re 21st in the FBS in 2024 while scoring 34.9 points per game. They were 20th last year with 34.5 points per game. (Craven)

Rice – A new beginning 

The Owls hit the reset button in 2024, firing Mike Bloomgren during his seventh year in charge on South Main. The program announced Davidson head coach Scott Abell would replace him. He turned Davidson into a winner at the FCS level and brings a unique spread-option offense to Rice. (Craven)

Texas State – Leadership 

Young Texas State fans might not remember what Bobcats football looked like before Kelly Damphousse was hired as school president and Don Coryell was elevated to athletic director. They’ve poured resources into athletics, especially football, to improve the front porch of the university. It’s culminated in two consecutive bowl eligible seasons and a contract extension for G.J. Kinne. It also might get the Bobcats into the reworked Pac-12. (Craven)

Sam Houston – Caleb Weaver

Sam Houston wasn't predicted to be here (8–3 in its second FBS season) but neither was Caleb Weaver. The former FCS walk-on committed to Sam Houston in the summer after he graduated high school, worked his way into the starting lineup, and now leads an FBS conference with four interceptions and 59 solo tackles. He's the lynchpin of a Bearkats' defense that ranks first in Conference USA with 20.2 points allowed.

UTEP – Early Signing Day being Earlier Than Ever

It's been a trying year inside the Sun Bowl, where wins have been hard to come by. But no one wins an offseason like Scotty Walden, starting with the earliest Early Signing Day ever. The Miners' 2025 class currently ranks third in the conference, per On3 Sports. That, combined with winning two of it's last four games in Conference USA play, is enough for Walden to sell that the program is heading in the right direction.