So this is where I'll throw in some semi-contrarian opinion:
USC - I have a hard time knowing what to expect from this game. Even though we were a Sam Ehlinger fumble away from winning this last year which should portend to us winning this year since we bring a lot of experience back, USC will bring the ultimate wildcard into this game in true freshman JT Daniels, who will play whether as the starter or come in after their starter struggles and start lighting it up. Either way, we don't know what dimension that will add since there will be little to no film on the guy. Only OU will have a similar level of raw talent on teams we play this year and raw talent (as we saw last year in this game) can be a great equalizer if it comes to play. The big advantage Texas has is USC has to go to Stanford the week before and that frankly is a more important game for them to get, even if it doesn't have the same cache as beating us. If they lose to Stanford however, the chances of them beating us go up significantly. It is just how it goes.
TCU- All of the handwringing over the Frogs is a bit funny-"we can't assume a win because we've sucked against them the last 4 years". As if past performance always guarantees future results. Considering that TCU will be breaking in both a quarterback and an offensive line this season, getting them in September is very advantageous. Not to mention they'll have their version of USC game the week before as well when Ohio State comes to Jerry's place. Someone above mentioned how good the Frogs quarterbacks were. Can anyone really say that what little they've seen of Shawn Robinson and what they haven't seen of Justin Rogers behind an inexperienced line is somehow a significant advantage to TCU, especially against a very good defense (yes the Longhorns will be a very good defense). I'll make a bold prediction that Texas fans will come away much more impressed with USC's freshman JT Daniels than whoever the Frogs throw out there the following week. With the loss of Blacklock and some expected improvement from the UT offense (remember Sam didnt play in Ft Worth last year), Texas should be primed to grab this game in a way they haven't been the past few years
KSU - This is a real toughie given where it falls on the schedule, coming off of 2 intense home contests. Nothing to do with the so called KSU curse, but more to do with the fact that KSU will use 2 different QBs with 2 different skill sets and given the limited preparation time and where this game falls in the schedule will make it extremely challenging to win. I would not be surprised to see Texas roll into this game ranked and with a sparkly record and get knocked back down to earth, especially with OU looming.
OU- Schedule will also play a factor here, especially since OU's is markedly easier leading into this game. Texas will bring the intensity, but can they sustain it for 4 quarters, especially since they haven't had a bye week yet and the intensity of the 3 previous games. OU wins the war of attrition in this scenario. Had Texas played say Baylor or KU the week before, I'd probably think differently because the teams are fairly close otherwise.
WVU - With limited depth, the Mountaineers need to stay relatively healthy to achieve their season goals. Fortunately, their October is tailor made for this with a bye week and games against KU and Baylor sandwiched around a trip to Ames. The good news for Texas is that their schedule has also lightened up at this point and makes this a really interesting game. If WVU comes in relatively healthy and has found something of a defense, then this tilts it in favor of WVU but I need to see how their season plays out before making a bold prediction. They need very good injury luck.
Yes....schedule matters.......a lot! I would argue it is a much more significant factor than many folks doing analysis give it.
Given that I am a pencil pusher, I would give the probable range of outcomes (assuming normal luck on injuries) to be between 8 and 11 wins with 9 being the most likely outcome. The Big 12 will not be as good as it was last year, so finding at least 2 additional wins to achieve the floor is not that difficult, unless the Horns have worse than average turnover and injury luck. Texas acheived +2.3 points from turnovers per game last year at a +8 number. That's slightly above average but not so high that the team will have a difficult time repeating it (Iowa State's was almost double this if you want to look for a team that may see more of a regression to the mean). Injuries are always a great unknown.
TL:DR - Some folks are big gaping vaginas on TCU, other teams may be tougher to beat this year.