With just over 24 hours until the first College Football Playoff rankings are released, there’s been some shuffling among predictions.
Previous projections had Texas A&M football as one of the four seeds, a lock for a quarterfinal game. CBS, ESPN and Sports Illustrated held the Aggies at either No. 3 or No. 4 coming off their bye week. This week the Aggies (8-0, 5-0 SEC) face the flailing No. 19 Missouri Tigers. Those same projections did not have Texas football listed anywhere.
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Texas (7-2, 4-1) held on 34-31 to upset Vanderbilt, which leapfrogged them from No. 20 to No. 13 in the polls. The Longhorns have two weeks to prepare for its next opponent, No. 5 Georgia in Athens, Ga.
Here is what some of the leading sites have for their projections:
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Texas Longhorns wide receiver Ryan Wingo (1) celebrates a touchdown on the first play of the game with his teammates as the Longhorns take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 1, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Texas, Texas A&M rise in CBS Sports projection
Texas takes the field for the second half of the game as the Longhorns take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 1, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Texas A&M wide receiver KC Concepcion (7) carries the ball for a touchdown against LSU in the second half Oct. 25, 2025 in Baton Rouge, La.
Gerald Herbert/Associated Press
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian reacts to a call during the game against Vanderbilt at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Texas Cheer run the flags across the field to celebrate a touchdown in the first quarter as the Longhorns take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 1, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Texas is listed as the “last team in” for CBS Sports because of the Longhorns potentially getting into the CFP with three losses.
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Remember, last season Clemson had three loses but made the field because it was the ACC champion. The Tigers played Texas at Royal-Memorial Stadium in the first round.
Three games remain for the 2025 Longhorns, two of which are teams in the top-five No. 5 Georgia and No. 3 Texas A&M.
With the Longhorns peaking at the right time, if Texas beats Arkansas and splits the games between the Bulldogs and Aggies, they can find their way into the postseason. Any more than one loss and the Longhorns are likely done.
Texas A&M was bumped up in the projection to No. 2 because they are the projected SEC champion.
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ESPN CFP prediction: Longhorns among last teams in
The upset of Vanderbilt has done a lot of favors for the Longhorns, but Texas might have gotten some outside aid, too.
ESPN‘s Heather Dinich believes that Georgia Tech’s first loss of the season to North Carolina State helped Texas. She has the Horns at the No. 11 spot in her playoff projections. The Yellow Jackets lost to an unranked team that is now 5-4 overall.
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Texas’ conference loss to Florida continues to haunt the Longhorns, but Dinich believes that the wins over Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, CFP top-25 teams, can push them into the field. However, Texas could be bumped to make room for the ACC champion because that projected champion as well as the Group of Five representative are ranked outside the top 12.
Texas A&M holds strong at No. 4. But according to Dinich, A&M could fall lower because even though the Aggies beat Notre Dame and LSU, the committee’s likely diminishing perception of the Tigers will be factored into the comprehensive view of the Aggies’ resume.
Texas A&M wide receiver KC Concepcion (right) celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Terry Bussey in the second half Oct. 25, 2025 in Baton Rouge, La.
Gerald Herbert/Associated Press
SI.com includes OU instead of Texas
The Longhorns are no where to be found in these projections. Instead it was Notre Dame that enjoyed a boost because of Vanderbilt’s loss. But still, five SEC teams make the 12-team field with three teams from the Big Ten (Oklahoma was out in last week’s projection but sneaks in at No. 10 this week).
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Taking the spot of Georgia Tech is Virginia, the new projected ACC champ, at No. 11 and South Florida takes the No. 12 spot, previously held by Tulane.
The No. 3 spot is still held by Texas A&M.