Bowl bids show just how odd this year was for the state's Power Five teams

[caption id="attachment_18008" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Justin Armstrong Photo by Justin Armstrong[/caption] It was a disappointing year for the state of Texas. Out of 12 FBS football teams in the state and less than half of those programs made bowl games. Only Houston, which went 11-1 and was awarded the G5 bid into a New Year’s Day bowl won a conference championship. Baylor and TCU made bowl games, but the goals for each were much, much higher. Before the season, the game between the two was supposed to determine a conference champion and clinch a berth into the College Football Playoff for the team that won. Instead, injuries helped hand both teams at least one conference loss before the game, making the contest for nothing more than bragging rights. Texas A&M’s record doesn’t look that bad, but the Aggies struggled in 2015. The season isn’t even over and starting quarterback Kyle Allen announced he will transfer, just like Kenny Hill did last offseason after being the opening day starter in 2014. Moving forward, it’ll be Kyler Murray’s program, but until Kevin Sumlin can find a running game, it won’t matter who is throwing the ball. Tech was the fifth and final team to reach a bowl game. The Red Raiders needed a bounce-back season and Kliff Kingsbury’s crew responded. A win over Texas on Thanksgiving will provide a recruiting boost for a program that was falling behind the other four P5 schools in that regard. Patrick Mahomes, still just a sophomore, showed why he earned the starting spot over Davis Webb. Defense, especially against the rush, remains Texas Tech’s weakness. The Red Raiders will be tested in that regard against an LSU team that is very one-dimensional. Texas was the lone P5 team in the state to miss out on a bowl game. Charlie Strong’s group only won five games despite knocking off Oklahoma and Baylor. Every non-P5 school outside of Houston – SMU, North Texas, Rice, Texas State, UTEP and UTSA finished the season with losing records and will not participate in the postseason. It was a whacky 2015 and Houston emerged as the victor of the Lone Star State with a conference record and a bowl game in the national spotlight against Florida State. A win against the Seminoles completes the homerun season of first-year head coach Tom Herman.