Lost in the chaos last Saturday’s wild comeback win over Mississippi State, the sixth victory for Texas football clinched the program’s postseason eligibility for a fourth consecutive season and eighth time in nine years.
The No. 20 Longhorns (6-2, 3-1 SEC) still hope to qualify for a third consecutive College Football Playoff, and the next two games against No. 9 Vanderbilt and No. 5 Georgia will likely determine whether the team reaches that goal.
But if Texas does fall short of the CFP, there are a handful of bowls with tie-ins to the SEC that would love to host a rare visit by the Longhorns.
The Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., has first pick of the SEC teams that don’t qualify for the CFP. Need evidence of the bowl’s interest in Texas? A representative of the Citrus Bowl sat in the front row of the postgame media session after the Longhorns’ overtime win at Kentucky Oct. 18, and another chatted with Texas coach Steve Sarkisian after the victory over Mississippi State.
After the Citrus Bowl makes its pick of the SEC litter, conference officials work with the other bowl-eligible schools to determine their respective postseason fates.
• Liberty Bowl: vs. Big 12 (Memphis, Tenn.)
• Duke’s Mayo Bowl: vs. ACC (Charlotte, N.C.)
• ReliaQuest Bowl: vs. Big Ten or ACC (Tampa, Fla.)
• Texas Bowl: vs. Big 12 (Houston)
• Gator Bowl: vs. ACC (Jacksonville)
• Music City Bowl: vs. Big Ten (Nashville, Tenn.)
The SEC has affiliations to fill with these bowls, if needed:
• Birmingham Bowl: vs. American Athletioc (Birmingham, Ala.)
• Gasparilla Bowl: vs. AAC or ACC (Tampa. Fla.)
Texas has appeared in only two of those bowl games: the Texas Bowl in 2014 and 2017 as well as the Gator Bowl in 1974.