A sixth straight 10-win season was no reason to celebrate at Texas.
The Longhorns went 10-3 in 2006 but dropped their last two regular-season games, including a 12-7 stunner to rival Texas A&M. The Longhorns settled for a trip in the Alamo Bowl after botching a golden chance to win the Big 12 South.
Not good enough. Not after Vince Young took them to the national championship the previous year.
"There's been a real high standard set at our place now," coach Mack Brown said.
The Longhorns have enough talent this season to bull their way into the national-title discussion and again be the favorites to win the Big 12 — though they have some holes to fill.
Texas lost 10 starters from last season, most of them on the offensive line and in the secondary. Brown also needs a backup quarterback and has to break in a new defensive coordinator after Gene Chizik left for Iowa State.
"We have a lot of question marks with our team," Brown said.
One big certainty is quarterback Colt McCoy, who returns after an impressive freshman season. The offense should be one of the nation's most explosive, with Limas Sweed and former Provo Angels outfielder Quan Cosby heading a veteran pack of receivers and 2006 leading rusher Jamaal Charles spearheading the ground attack.
The Longhorns had the third-best rushing defense in the country last season (61 yards per game) and massive tackles Frank Okam, Derek Lokey and Roy Miller return, along with all the linebackers. Texas ranked 99th in pass defense (236 yards per game) and — for better or worse — only one starter is back in the secondary.
The list of capable challengers to Texas is long.
Texas A&M and Missouri are positioned for breakout seasons, Nebraska is strong again, and Oklahoma State and Texas Tech still have the offenses to spring an upset or two.
And as usual, Oklahoma is the most formidable contender of all. Like the Longhorns, the Sooners have some preseason questions, most notably at quarterback.
The situation is not nearly as dire as it was last August, when Rhett Bomar was kicked off the team and converted receiver Paul Thompson was thrown in as a last-minute replacement. This year, Sooners coach Bob Stoops had more time to evaluate three contenders for the job, which was won by redshirt freshman Sam Bradford.
The Sooners also have gaps to fill at linebacker, but they should again have one of the nation's top secondaries. Oklahoma led the Big 12 in scoring defense last year, giving up only 17 points per game.