“I’m feeling the cheesiest, coach!”
Don’t expected to hear those words on the Forty Acres Sunday, except in a most sarcastic form.
For the first time in three years, the No. 13 Texas Longhorns are projected the miss the College Football Playoff after a three-loss regular season that also included three wins over top-10 opponents, a projection that will became official when the College Football Playoff Selection Show begins at 11 a.m. Central on ESPN.
So despite frustration from athletics director Chris Del Conte and head coach Steve Sarkisian, the committee is weighing the loss to Florida in Gainesville more heavily than the team’s strength of schedule and head-to-head wins over two teams projected to make the 12-team field — No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 8 Oklahoma.
Sarkisian said that Texas will honor its commitments to host Ohio State and Michigan over the next two years, but indicated that the home-and-home series with Notre Dame in 2028 and 2029 is now in jeopardy.
According to most projections, including ESPN, that bowl game is the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, Fla. at 2 p.m. Central on ABC on Dec. 31 against No. 19 Michigan, setting up a rematch of the big win by the Longhorns last year at Michigan Stadium.
It’s a game that would pit two blue-blood programs, but the quality of the matchup wouldn’t do much to salve the disappointment of ending a season that began with No. 1 rankings in both polls with a meaningless exhibition game in Orlando.
No one is feeling that cheesy about it.