Now that Week 10 of the college football regular season is in the rearview mirror and College Football Playoff rankings are on the way soon, it’s time to get serious about potential at-large discussions. That’s especially true with the SEC, which features a swath of teams with anywhere between zero and two losses who all theoretically have a shot at both the SEC title game and a CFP bid. On Sunday morning, Paul Finebaum hopped on ESPN to decree one of those teams that he believes is out of the picture now.
Alabama continues to churn out wins, the same goes for Georgia and Ole Miss — all teams with just one loss to this point, though ‘Bama has the edge with zero conference losses to date. But also, Texas A&M remains undefeated while another list of squads have two losses apiece but still can carve out a path to the postseason if they win out. Those teams: Vanderbilt, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
That last group of five is more longshot territory for the Playoff, but Texas poses an interesting quagmire because yes, the two losses hurts their resume, but with one of those coming out of conference against No. 1 Ohio State, Texas has a great schedule to brag on plus are still in the thick of the SEC title race with just one loss — and not a loss to any of the teams they’ll compete against for their title game spot.
However, with even more tests coming up, and a third loss likely drowning Texas’ chances at the Playoff, Paul Finebaum can’t get on board with predicting a Longhorn run down the stretch.
“I am horns down,” he answered on SportsCenter when asked about Texas’ CFP hopes. “They have made a nice comeback and Arch (Manning) is looking very good, but their schedule is daunting.”
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian observes / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
If Texas does win out, they’ll have an all-star resume, SEC title game appearance or not. But that’s a tall task, per Finebaum.
“Remember, they still have to go to Georgia,” he commented. “(Georgia) is a top-five team. They have to deal with Texas A&M on the final Friday of the regular season. I don’t think they can get through both and I think their playoff hopes will end somewhere very soon.”
Last season, Texas was able to fend off the Aggies in the rivalry finale before making it into the SEC championship game and College Football Playoff. This fall, the Lone Star State is setting up for another massive matchup with every possible postseason hope and dream potentially on the line for these programs.