Bohls: Texas' Steve Sarkisian says he has a good team, but is it Tier 4 good?

While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:

1. High hopes too high? Steve Sarkisian said Monday that he's got a good football team. Still, I was very surprised to see an ESPN article ranking all 131 FBS teams include Texas along with Miami and USC among its Tier 4 programs, ahead of even Baylor, Oklahoma State, Houston and Michigan State, with the words “They’re (maybe) back!” Careful there. “It all sounds pretty good ... until you remember recent history," David Hale writes. "How many times have we said Miami, Texas and USC are back, only to see them soon be thwarted by critical injuries, inept coaching or the occasional Halloween monkey attack? Maybe this time really is different.” Maybe. … Louisiana-Monroe, Texas’ season-opening opponent, comes in at Tier 22 meaning the Warhawks tied for 120th along with Texas State. Terry Bowden’s bunch is coming off a 4-8 season with 12 returning starters and is projected by some to finish last in the Sun Belt West Division. The year before, ULM never led in any game in an 0-10 year. It hasn’t had a winning season since 2012, and this year has a frightfully young secondary but strong special teams and receivers. Oh, after opening in Austin, ULM goes to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama two weeks later. ULM also had to decide between two quarterbacks, weighing the skills of a pair of dual-threat players. Sophomore Chandler Rogers passed for 34 touchdowns and ran for 31 in Mansfield, Texas before signing with Southern Mississippi and playing at Blinn College. He made six starts for ULM last year. Jiya Wright was moved to safety at Northern Illinois and spent time at Division II Florida Tech and Fort Scott Community College before settling at Monroe. … I'm hearing that Alabama cornerback Eli Ricks has been banged up with a bad back and may not hang onto a starting spot after transferring from LSU. But Jahmyr Gibbs, the running back transfer from Georgia Tech, is drawing rave reviews. … Sarkisian said on Sirius Radio that Nick Saban well deserves his new contract paying him an average of $11.7 million over the next eight years. “I don’t think they paid him enough. They probably should have doubled it," Sark said.

2. Taxing schedule. While we’re on rankings, consider that Jeff Borzello rates Chris Beard’s Longhorns basketball team at No. 11 in the nation and brags on New Mexico State transfer Sir’Jabari Rice as a player who is “flying under the radar.” We agree. Rice can put it in the bucket, averaging 36% from long range over the last three years. But the writer also ranks Kansas No. 6 — hyping former Westlake star KJ Adams for his “physicality and defense” — and Baylor No. 8 with a strong backcourt including West Virginia transfer Jalen Bridges. … Beard has beefed up the schedule significantly: Texas plays 12 games against this particular Top 25, including home games with No. 2 Gonzaga and No. 7 Creighton as well as trips away from Austin against No. 12 Tennessee and No. 25 Illinois.

Bohls: Steve Worster epitomized the position of fullback.

3. Verde vibe is growing. Emiliano Rigoni has arrived from Argentina. Finally. While we wondered if his passport might have gotten stolen out of Donald Trump’s personal safe at Mar-a-Lago, those concerns are no longer. Rigoni, 29, has posted 55 goals along with 36 assists in a career spanning 307 games and should offer immediate help on the right wing as Austin FC’s third designated player, not that it really needs help. El Tree sits second behind LAFC, pending their showdown on Friday when Los Angeles tries to avenge a 2-1 loss in May. Rigoni rejoins former teammate Sebastián Driussi, who played together for the potent Russian Premier League team Zenit St. Petersburg. Austin is poised for its first playoff run in just its second year and Rigoni will be the perfect complement to Driussi, who has to be the front-runner for league MVP with an MLS-best 18 goals. Verde has been magical this season, tied for the MLS lead with 55 goals after barely being able to find the back of the net with their GPS in their expansion year. Rigoni was obtained for a $4 million price tag by Austin, which will hold his rights through 2024 with two more options beyond that. He hasn’t played since July 8 but might make his debut in Friday’s showdown against LAFC after having visa problems. Thankfully, our governor didn’t put him on a bus to New York. “The wait is worth it,” head coach Josh Wolff said Monday. “Emiliano comes to us a mature professional — a well-traveled professional, experienced professional. His qualities are quite clear. High-quality players understand the game at a high level. Once he starts playing, I don’t think there’ll be any doubts what he can do. I don’t think he’s far off.” … The combination of Rigoni, Druissi and Diego Fagúndez gives Verde a ton of offensive options — 13 players have scored this year — and should give defenses nightmares. “We have eight games left, we’re hopeful he can play in a majority of them,” Wolff said. “He’s coming into a good, strong attacking team already. We have a clear attacking orientation around Sebastian right now. When you have variety in your attack, you can cause more problems. We’ve scored plenty of goals, but we’re still hungry. The league is unforgiving, so the last eight games will be challenging and the playoffs will provide different challenges.”

4. Hold the mayo. Longhorns center Jake Majors bemoaned the fact that he and his teammates have not yet sampled Bijan Robinson’s new mustard, Bijan Mustardson, his latest NIL endeavor which comes in a nine-ounce jar and can be bought online. I get the play on his name, but if there’s one college player who’s not a hot dog, it’s Robinson. “I’d better get some soon,” Majors cracked. “We’d better get a good supply. I need some. He’s been barking about it. The offensive line needs to have a taste of it.” … When I asked 6-foot-6, 328-pound guard Christian Jones if he’d gotten a ride in Robinson’s Lamborghini, he joked that he hadn’t because he’d been told there’s a “height limitation.” Or a weight limitation. … Asked to name the meanest Texas offensive lineman, Majors said it’d be Andrej Karic. “He’s got that Bosnian background. If I’m in a back alley, he’d be right behind me. He’s a guy who would lay a hit on somebody.” … Safety Jerrin Thompson called Morice Blackwell “a striker. He’s one of those who love to hit.” He also raved about Westlake walk-on Michael Taaffe, who I think could earn a scholarship. “He’s my guy. He’s a very smart player. He knows the game,” Thompson said.

More: Xavier Worthy not interested in individual stats, only team success.

5. All in the family. Hats off to Parker Coody, the former Texas All-American who won his first tournament as a pro when he captured the PGA Tour Canada's CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open on Sunday. Coody turned pro in early June after helping lead the Longhorns to the 2022 national championship, and got a win in just his sixth career start on that tour. He had to keep it real with his brother, Pierceson, who won Korn Ferry Tour's Live and Work in Maine Open earlier this summer in his third career start on the Korn Ferry Tour.

6. Final act? Charlie Brewer’s career is not done yet. The former Baylor quarterback who transferred to Utah has resurfaced at Liberty and has been named the Flames' starting quarterback. It’ll be his sixth season since he used his three starts for the Utes last season as a redshirt year. We forget how good he was in Waco, where he threw for 9,700 yards and 65 touchdowns before his multiple concussions. I’m stunned he hasn’t retired from football, but he clearly loves the sport too much to give it up.

Bohls: Sarkisian's decision to name Quinn Ewers as his quarterback will have big repercussions.

7. Fantasy 101. The deadline for announcing our keepers in our office fantasy football league is this weekend. Leaning toward hanging onto Austin Ekeler, and then probably Joe Mixon over tight end Travis Kelce just because running backs are valued so greatly. My son John Tyler and I are waiting to catch a break. Over the course of the last two seasons, we’ve needed 12 quarterbacks, including eight two years ago when we had to resort to starting Alex Smith and Taysom Hill.

8. Scattershooting. While wondering whatever happened to former Longhorns running back Joe Bergeron, who crushed it in 2012 with 16 touchdowns before he was ushered out of the program by Charlie Strong.

9. On the couch: Just finished up Netflix’s “OA” with sons Zachary and Ryan. Very, very intriguing series about near death experiences and what may lie on the other side. It’s got a million twists and turns and can be hard to follow at times, but the Season 2 finale was as creative as I’ve seen. Sadly there are no current plans for a Season 3. Maybe in 2037, right, OA fans? Kingsley Ben-Adir has a big role as a private detective, and my boys think he’d make a perfect James Bond replacement for Daniel Craig. I agree. Gave OA eight ducks.

Crazy prediction: The NFL will someday stream inter-squad scrimmages between teams featuring the real starters, and the ratings will top preseason games.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas may be good, but are the Horns good enough for Tier 4 status?