I think the true identity of this team has been revealed. The people thinking we should be #1 were delusional. The people thinking everyone associated with the team were irredeemably awful were wrong. Some have probably been wrong on both sides of that coin this season.
This Texas team is very talented, but very young, inexperienced and inconsistent. There is a large gap between our ceiling and floor of play, with the ceiling being pretty damn high, and the floor being pretty damn low. Our mean of play isn't meaningful, because of the variance week to week can be so far above or below it, towards our ceiling or floor. I think that ability to play down to our floor keeps us from winning the conference or making it to the playoffs this year.
BUT, you can see some marked improvement in individuals, units and team as a whole over the course of the season. Improvement to where their floor is increasing week to week, the weekly variance in our play is decreasing, and the mean of play is trending towards the ceiling as we are starting to avoid playing down to our floor. The players are gaining experience and confidence in themselves and each other. They are calming the fuck down during games. That bodes well for the future. I think with the right NIL/portal/coaching moves in the offseason, we have a legitimate shot to win it all next season.