The calendar flips to November and, while most are planning Thanksgiving menus and holiday wishlists, college football enters its most stressful period, corresponding with the release of the first College Football Playoff rankings.
Many postseason hopefuls look to finish the regular season strong in the final stretch, jostling for seeding and playoff spots. It’s no different for the Texas Longhorns, who ranked No. 7 in the opening rankings and, as it stands, would own a spot in the postseason that it missed out on a year ago.
The rankings generated plenty of buzz with their release on Tuesday night; however, head coach Steve Sarkisian doesn’t place much stock in those projections.
“I don’t really know why we do it this early,” Sarkisian said at a Monday press conference. “I feel like the CFP, this is tough when you go so early; you put rankings out, sometimes you can pigeonhole yourself. … I’m not sure what rankings matter right now. It’s who you are at the end.”
While Sarkisian doesn’t hold the first edition of the rankings in high regard, Tuesday’s list does offer an outlook on how the CFP committee views the Longhorns through its eight games.
Texas’ 6–2 resume is a major peak-and-valley story, with three wins over top-15 opponents — No. 10 Ole Miss, No. 12 Ohio State and No. 13 Tennessee — but two back-to-back, ugly unranked losses to Oklahoma and Florida.
Despite Texas’ complex resume, the committee still places the Longhorns above some teams with better records, ranking ahead of undefeated UCLA, who checked in at No. 8, and 7–1 BYU, who sits at No. 9. At this point in time, it looks like Texas truly controls its own playoff destiny.
Still, the Longhorns aren’t the highest-ranked two-loss team, as the Alabama Crimson Tide were ranked No. 5. Texas and Alabama won’t play each other this season, but they’ve had one common opponent in Tennessee.
The Longhorns escaped Knoxville, Tennessee, with a win while the Crimson Tide was handed a loss. Matching resumes, Texas sits at 3–1 against teams in the CFP Top 25, whereas Alabama holds an even 2–2 record.
However, to the committee, Texas’ two losses to unranked teams look worse than Alabama’s, whose other loss came by three points to No. 2 Georgia.
This week in college football offers a chance to shake up the rankings in a major way, with seven matchups between top-25 teams, four specifically in the Southeastern Conference. CFP committee chairman Hunter Yuracheck is well aware of that.
“We still believe, as a committee, there’s going to be a significant amount of movement within the entire top 25 ranking,” Yuracheck said on ESPN. “This week was extremely difficult, putting out this first ranking, but this weekend is huge for college football and then there’s three more weekends after that.”
One team worth watching in the upcoming weeks is No. 12 Ohio State, coming off a loss at No. 20 USC, which now needs to weasel their way back into the mix.
Last year, Texas missed out on the postseason party in part because of its nonconference loss to the Buckeyes. This time around, with the Longhorns defeating Ohio State in Austin, the Buckeyes may be being dealt similar difficulties.
There are plenty of storylines that will contribute to the CFP rankings over the final four weeks of the regular season.
The current peculiar standards displayed by the CFP committee exemplify that every matchup is increasing in pressure. Momentum matters, and every week is about keeping playoff hopes alive and well. For the Longhorns, that journey will continue on the road in Columbia, Missouri.
