If The College Football Playoff Started Today, This Is What It Would Look Like

The second edition of College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night, and the Texas Longhorns are in prime position.

Nov 9, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) looks to throw a pass during the first half against the Florida Gators at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

After a wild Saturday full of upsets, the second edition of the College Football Playoff rankings were revealed on Tuesday night.

And things are looking good for the Texas Longhorns.

Not only did the No. 4 Miami Hurricanes fall to Georgia Tech, clearing the way for Texas to move up a spot, but the Longhorns biggest competition in the SEC thus far - the Georgia Bulldogs - also fell in a blowout loss to Ole Miss.

As a result, the Bulldogs fell completely out of the top 12 of the CFP rankings, and are on the outside looking in at the SEC Championship, while the Longhorns now sit at No. 3 in the rankings, and control their own conference destiny.

Obviously, there is still plenty of football left to be played, and the Longhorns still have to take care of business in their three remaining SEC games if they want to get where they want to go.

That starts this Saturday vs. Arkansas in Fayetteville at 11 am CT.

That said, if the playoffs started today, what would it look like? First off, lets look at how the rankings shook out:

No. 1 - Oregon Ducks
No. 2 - Ohio State Buckeyes
No. 3 - Texas Longhorns
No. 4 - Penn State Nittany Lions
No. 5 - Indiana Hoosiers
No. 6 - BYU Cougars
No. 7 - Tennessee Volunteers
No. 8 - Notre Dame Fighting Irish
No. 9 - Miami Hurricanes
No. 10 - Alabama Crimson Tide
No. 11 - Ole Miss Rebels
No. 12 - Boise State Broncos

Of course, this is not how the bracket would shake out, however.

With the way the playoffs are formatted, the four highest-ranked conference champions would get the top four spots in the final rankings, and as a result, earn first-round byes. Then the rest of the field would fall in behind that, in play in Round 1.

In other words, the final seedings would like this:

No. 1 - Oregon Ducks
No. 2 - Texas Longhorns
No. 3 - BYU Cougars
No. 4 - Miami Hurricanes
No. 5 - Ohio State Buckeyes
No. 6 - Penn State Nittany Lions
No. 7 - Indiana Hoosiers
No. 8 - Tennessee Volunteers
No. 9 - Notre Dame Fighting Irish
No. 10 - Alabama Crimson Tide
No. 11 - Ole Miss Rebels
No. 12 - Boise State Broncos

Those games will also be played at the home stadium (or stadium of choice) for the higher-ranked team in each matchup.

So without further ado, here is what that bracket would look like if the playoffs began today:

Round 1

No. 9 Notre Dame @ No. 8 Tennessee
No. 12 Boise State @ No. 5 Ohio State
No. 10 Alabama @ No. 7 Indiana
No. 11 Ole Miss @ No. 6 Penn State

BYES No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 BYU, No. 4 Miami

Round 2

No. 1 Oregon vs. winner of Notre Dame/Tennessee (likely @ Rose Bowl)
No. 2 Texas vs. winner of Alabama/Indiana (likely @ Sugar Bowl)
No. 3 BYU vs. winner of Ole Miss/Penn State (likely @ Fiesta Bowl)
No. 4 Miami vs. winner of Boise State/Ohio State (likely @ Peach Bowl)

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