Did CFP Get Texas Longhorns' Ranking Right?

The Texas Longhorns are among the top teams in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

Jon Alfano | Nov 6, 2024

Oct 26, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) hands the ball off to running back Quintrevion Wisner (26) against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

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Texas Longhorns

Before the first College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night, there was no question that the Texas Longhorns would be near the top, the question was where exactly they'd land.

Unsurprisingly, the Longhorns ended up at No. 5, just as they did in the AP and Coaches Polls. In the current bracket, though, they'd end up as the No. 6 seed in the CFP, with a familiar foe in No. 11 Alabama awaiting them.

That begs the question: did the committee get this placement right? For now, yes.

Starting off with the teams above the Longhorns: Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia and Miami. Oregon and Miami are 9-0, the former being the last undefeated team in the SEC or Big Ten, Ohio State's lone loss came on the road to Oregon and the team is coming off a huge road victory, and Georgia beat Texas handily in the Longhorns' home. So, no qualms about any of those teams being ahead.

The other side of the coin isn't quite as clear, however. There are valid arguments for several teams, including No. 6 Penn State, No. 8 Indiana and No. 9 BYU, to place higher than Texas. That said, the Longhorns are more than worthy of this placement, and the committee clearly seems to like their resume.

"Well, I think Texas has looked good all year in terms of how they have played," CFP Selection Committee chair Warde Manuel said. "They have won on the road at Michigan and went to Vanderbilt and won. As we've seen, Vanderbilt is a very good team this year. Their only loss at home was to No. 3 Georgia. We don't look at it as being fragile or not. We are going to judge each week with a clean sheet and approach it, and we look forward to watching how Texas plays as the season progresses."

With the No. 5 ranking, the Longhorns may be able to withstand a second loss and still make the dance. That's obviously not an ideal scenario, and their recent inconsistency leaves plenty of question marks, but it's still a nice cushion to have.

Texas will look to improve its CFP ranking when it hosts Florida at 11 p.m. CT on Saturday.