The Horns move up to the No. 2 seed with a hypothetical second-round matchup between the Crimson Tide and Hoosiers.
With the release of the second of six College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, the Texas Longhorns moved up to No. 3 and the No. 2 seed with a first-round bye and a matchup with the winner of the No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 7 Indiana Hoosiers.
It wasn’t all praise for the Horns on the ESPN telecast, however, with the studio crew pointing out the deficient resume thanks to the cratering seasons by the Wolverines and the Sooners. By the eye test, however, Texas is perfectly positioned entering the final three regular-season games.
In the initial rankings, Texas slotted at No. 5, behind No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 9 Miami, but the Bulldogs and the Hurricanes both suffered defeats over the weekend, leaving Oregon, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 BYU, and No. 24 Army as the only undefeated teams in the rankings.
Thanks to a 49-17 win over Florida by Texas and the aforementioned losses by Georgia, which fell to No. 12 after the defeat by No. 11 Ole Miss, and Miami, which lost to unranked Georgia Tech, the Longhorns were able to move up two spots in the playoff rankings, just as head coach Steve Sarkisian’s team did in the AP Top 25 poll and the Coaches Poll over the weekend.
“We judge them based on how they play, who they play in their season, but obviously, yes, both Georgia and Miami lost ahead of them. They had a decisive win against Florida this week. So part of where they landed at 3 was a combination of their play but also who lost ahead of them and how we looked at the entirety of ranking the top 25,” said Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel, a member of the selection committee.
The goal for Texas remains the same, however — to threat the last three regular-season games like a conference championship, and success will ensure that the Horns have a shot at a first-round bye, perhaps even with a potential loss in the SEC Championship game.
For now, Texas has as much control over its destiny as anyone in the country.