Texas Longhorns or Oregon Ducks? Rece Davis Gives His College Football Playoff Pick

ESPN's Rece Davis reveals who he thinks is the best team between the Texas Longhorns and Oregon Ducks

The Texas Longhorns are getting ready to play for a Big 12 Championship. That said, it is no surprise that their campaign for the College Football Playoff has already begun.

As it stands, the No. 7 Longhorns still have two obstacles in front of them in terms of playoff contention, the No. 4 Florida State Seminoles, and the No. 5 Oregon Ducks. 

The cleanest path to the playoff for Texas would be to have Oregon lose to Washington in the Pac-12 title game and have Lousiville beat Florida State in the ACC Championship.

However, should Florida State and Oregon both win, the Longhorns' path becomes rather murky.

The Seminoles will be an undefeated conference champion and should be in. But if Oregon beats Washington, the great debate between the Ducks and Horns.

And in response to that debate, ESPN's Rece Davis has weighed in, backing the Longhorns' claim to the playoff over the Ducks.

Sara Diggins-Austin American-Statesman

“I don’t think Oregon’s resume is outlandishly behind anybody’s," Davis said on the College GameDay Podcast. "But I do think one singular data point that could make a difference... Texas’ win on the road in Tuscaloosa probably carries the day for me.”

The Ducks, of course, have their lone loss of the season to Washington, who they could beat on Saturday. That said, the Ducks best win of the season comes against then-No. 13 Utah on the road, who now sits unranked.

Meanwhile, the Horns have a win over the then-No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa by double digits, with the Tide currently sitting No. 8 in the country at 11-1 and about to play for an SEC Championship.

Texas also has wins over four ranked teams this season, and have an opportunity for a fifth on Saturday against Oklahoma State. The Ducks, on the other hand, have three ranked win, none of which came against top-ten teams, with their chance at a fourth-ranked win on Saturday against No. 3 Washington.

Texas also substantially outranks Oregon in strength of schedule, with the Horns ranking 13th and the Ducks ranking 62nd. Texas also ranks second in 'game control' while the Ducks rank third. 

Oh, and the two programs have precisely one common opponent - the Texas Tech Red Raiders - who Oregon beat by eight points, and Texas beat by 50.

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But what about on the field? Davis believes that Texas wins there too.

“The resumes are very similar,” Davis said. "In that game? I would probably pick Texas to win the game – barely, maybe.”

At the end of the day, however, both of these teams need to worry about their respective conference championship games first. 

Because if either of them lose this weekend, that is the end of their playoff dreams.

But if the Longhorns do win on Saturday, you can expect Steve Sarkisian to back his team's claim to the CFP.

“Inevitably, I’ve got a responsibility to our team,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “I think every other coach feels that way. We want what’s best for our players. If I need to advocate for my team and politic for my team to try to get us into the playoffs, I’m going to do that because that’s my job as their coach, to try to put them in the best position to be successful.”

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