I was bummed to hear from longtime OB member Ray Donley that COVID-19 led to the close of the WYLD GALLERY brick and mortar in downtown Austin. If you never stopped in, you missed out. However, I was pleased to hear, and then see, Ray’s vibrant gallery of fine Native American art has expanded online, and this week’s column is brought to you by WYLD GALLERY . And if anyone lives in the Austin area and would like to see some of the paintings in person, Ray would be happy to try to work that out or even bring them to you. E-mail or PM me and I’ll connect you with Ray.

WYLD GALLERY is a gallery featuring traditional and contemporary fine art by Native American Artists. The gallery is the part-time retirement gig for Ray Donley, an Austin attorney who has been a lurker on OB since 2002. Ray has been collecting Native American art since the 1980s. He has made friends with a number of Oklahoma Native American Artists, and enjoys ribbing them for their fanatical support of a football team that honors the land thieves who took their land.

You’ll find many affordable options including some as cheap as $50. Seriously. See for yourself at the bottom of this column. That’s an outstanding deal, especially considering many of these artists have been featured at some of the top Native American galleries in the world.

Contemporary Native American paintings are bold, bright, and never boring. And they will look great on the walls of your office or home. Many of the artists in the gallery have pieces in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian.Please check out these unique, vibrant paintings at www.WYLD.GALLERY. Treat yourself to some cool art to add some character to your house/office or snag that unique Christmas gift you’re always looking for.

Alright, the writing…

1) Remember the Alamo?
The Texas Football battle cry has turned into its own version of… Remember the Alamo?Texas will play in the Alamo Bowl for the fourth time in nine years and of its last seven bowl appearances four will be near the San Antonio Riverwalk. Hey, I dig San Antonio. During normal times, the Alamodome creates a unique, underrated and great bowl game atmosphere. I’d love to make my way to Pat O’Brien’s and stumble out. Yes, I am that guy who can’t avoid the New Orleans bar in San Antonio.

Anyway, there are worse ways for the Longhorns to end a season. It wasn’t long ago Texas was on the wrong side of a game one man described as ‘erotic’ in Houston against Arkansas at the Texas Bowl. An opportunity for the Longhorns to finish 7-3 isn’t that bad even if it’s impossible to shake the stench of underachievement.

But I admit another Alamo Bowl doesn't elicit much excitement, and let’s just say another trip to San Antonio isn’t a cure for growing apathy. Here’s the greater issue: everything about this bowl game would feel different if the Longhorns weren’t recruiting… like a team going to the Alamo Bowl again.

After National Signing Day 1, here’s a look at the top classes by star rating:

How about that? The teams winning national titles and routinely making the College Football Playoff are also the teams building their recruiting classes with the highest percentage of top prospects. What if I told you the same five teams finished in the top six the previous season and Florida, who played for a SEC title last weekend and looked like a legitimate playoff contender, joined? Shocking.

How about 2019? Well, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State finished in the top five again. Okay, what about 2018? Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama finished in the top five again. Surely, it stopped in 2017, right? Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson finished in the top four and Georgia wasn’t far behind.

The Longhorns currently rank 18th in average star rating, just two spots ahead of West Virginia. They finished 10th for the 2020 class, and 2019’s No. 7 finish included five-star USC receiver Bru McCoy and four four-star prospects who have either left the program or have been unable to play because of injuries.

Even more concerning for Texas is the image beyond the 2021 top five. Following Clemson is Oregon, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. In 2019, both OU and A&M finished inside the top four. While this year’s Lone Star State recruiting battles are the most alarming, Oklahoma and Texas A&M signing elite classes isn’t just a one-time thing. The gap is widening.

We can talk about development, scheme, building coaching staffs, on-field coaching adjustments, etc. and all of that undoubtedly matters and affects winning. But nothing correlates more strongly to winning and competing for conference titles consistently than recruiting. Nothing.

Coaches can trump their evaluation skills and internal rankings and I can point to Nick Saban signing the best recruiting class or very, very close to it every damn year. Back in 2017, current CFP participants Ohio State, Alabama, and Clemson finished inside the top four of average star rating. Those players are, mostly, seniors now. The other team, Notre Dame, is a 19.5-point underdog against Alabama. I’ll let you guess if it was close to Alabama in recruiting or not, and the last time it was in a similar situation it was smoked by Clemson.

The pivot by Texas to aggressively pursue transfers to complete the 2021 recruiting class is a wise one, although it isn’t the only one taking that approach. But it’s like the Major League Baseball team with a declining farm system trying to plug holes by overpaying aging free agents. While it could and probably will help in the immediate future, it doesn’t cure the long-term outlook. Until recruiting changes, you might not have to think long to remember Texas and the Alamo Bowl.

2) Some things I’m looking forward to watching in the Alamo Bowl…
--- I’m a sucker for a great uniform game, and Texas versus Colorado will be a fantastic uniform game. Big fan of both classic looks.

--- Bijan Robinson, Bijan Robinson and more Bijan Robinson. So much of the bowl game and conversation surrounding it will be about senior Sam Ehlinger, but the offensive focal point should be Robinson being involved in the ways he was involved against Kansas State...

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