Texas football: Longhorns are at a crossroads

Loss to Oklahoma likely excludes Texas from the CFP, but there's still a lot on the table

Barring something insane happening in the world of college football between now and the end of the season, the Texas Longhorns are likely out of the College Football Playoff race. 

It's a tough pill to swallow for a program and fan base that has been painfully close to being among the best teams in the country. 

Still, there's a lot on left on the plate for Texas. The Longhorns are still in a solid position to make a run at the conference title game for the second-straight season. Texas would then not only get another shot at rival Oklahoma, but also a chance at the program's first Big 12 crown since 2009. 

That's a light at the end of a long tunnel, though. To get to where Texas wants to go, it will have to match the longest winning streak of the Tom Herman era at six games. 

After playing in two of the biggest college football games of the year and coming out on the wrong end in each, the Longhorns' football season will be defined by a six-game stretch of Kansas, TCU, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor and Texas Tech. 

Yes, there are some good teams in that mix, but College Gameday probably isn't showing up for any of those matchups. 

Herman always preaches to his team to never let a loss beat you twice. He always tells his players they are trying to go 1-0 in every respective week. 

But all of those lessons will be put to the test as the Longhorns prepare for the home stretch. This is a team that has expended a tremendous amount of emotion in two huge games, plus a couple of gritty wins over Oklahoma State and West Virginia. 

There are also nagging injuries and all of the road bumps that come with a traditional college football season. 

Texas has taken on two of college football's best teams in the past six weeks, but is it ready to battle complacency?