An explanation for why Texas is ranked 9th in the BCS

The computers think Texas is, on average, the 15th best team in the country. Why?

Stewart Mandel might have one reason:

Here's an interesting little factoid for you: Texas has played seven games this season without leaving its home state. Furthermore, the 'Horns have yet to face an opposing team in its home stadium, having played five home games, a neutral-site game against Oklahoma (Dallas) and a "road" game against Rice at Houston's Reliant Stadium.

Every single computer ranking takes into account the location of a game: home games are easier to win than road games, and neutral games are somewhere in between. If Texas hasn't left the state yet, and their wins are over teams with a combined record of 18-21, then all those 42-14 games aren't actually that impressive to the computers.