College Football 2016: 25 bold predictions

22. Charlie Strong erases doubts with nine wins

Texas hasn’t gotten off to the best start in the Strong era, and he enters 2016 on the hot seat. While the frustration in Austin is understandable, Strong had a lot of rebuilding to do in his first two years, and may finally have a roster capable of doing some damage in the Big 12.

Mack Brown led the Longhorns to a decade-long period of glory including the 2005 national title, but left the cupboard bare with lackluster recruiting over his final few years. Strong went 6-7 in 2014, his first season in Austin, and promptly regressed to five wins the next year.

Still, last season’s team featured some promising young talent, and the Longhorns managed to knock off Oklahoma and Baylor. The defense should be good in 2016 given Strong’s track record at Louisville, and a strong group of skill players like John Burt and D’Onta Foreman will help whomever the Longhorns use at quarterback, even if it’s four-star freshman Shane Buechele.

Beating Notre Dame in the opener is too much to hope for, even if the game is at home. However, Texas’ schedule has a few winnable road contests, TCU and Baylor at home, and the Red River Shootout, which always seems to be a coinflip.

Strong can make Texas a power program once again, but just needs some time to clear out the cobwebs of the late Brown era. This season could be the year where the Longhorns make some real progress on the field to set up a run of greater success further down the line.

Next: 21. Purdue makes a bowl game