Texas ranked No. 11 in the initial set of College Football Playoff rankings

The Texas Longhorns were ranked No. 11 in the initial set of rankings released by the College Football Playoff selection committee on Tuesday night.

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Texas would have been left out of the projected field of 12 if these were the final rankings. Virginia, who is at No. 14, is the projected ACC champion as the highest rated team from that league and would leapfrog Texas. So too would Memphis, the projected American champion, who was not ranked but described as the highest ranked Group of Six team by the committee.

The final rankings will be revealed on Sunday, December 7.

Other SEC teams in the rankings included No. 25 Tennessee, No. 22 Missouri, No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 5 Georgia, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 3 Texas A&M

The only other team from Texas’ schedule in the rankings was Ohio State, who checked in at No. 1.

The Longhorns have made back-to-back College Football Playoffs. In 2023, the Longhorns made the final iteration of the four-team College Football Playoff as the No. 3 team in the final rankings. The Longhorns lost to Washington 37-31 in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

In 2024, Texas was ranked No. 3 but seeded No. 5 because of a seeding structure no longer used by the CFP. Texas defeated Clemson at home in the College Football Playoff first round, 38-24. Texas then defeated Arizona State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Peach Bowl. The Longhorns defeated the Sun Devils 39-31 in double overtime. Texas fell to Ohio State in the CFP semifinals at the Cotton Bowl, 28-14.

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Last year, there was plenty confusion about rankings and seedings not matching up. Texas was actually ranked No. 3 in the final CFP rankings but ended up as the 5th seed because the top four seeds were reserved for conference champions. Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, and Arizona State were the four highest-ranked conference champions and earned the top four seeds. Texas was the highest-ranked team that didn’t win its conference and earned the 5th seed. The Longhorns matched up with 12th-seed Clemson, who earned its place in the CFP as a result of winning the ACC. The Tigers were No. 16 in the final rankings.

This year, this is how the teams will be seeded based on the rankings according to a policy the CFP updated in May.

The new policy will guarantee the five highest-ranked conference champions a place in the Playoff, but will no longer include a bye for the four highest-ranked champions. The 12-team bracket will now be seeded directly based on the final ranking of the CFP Selection Committee, with the four highest-ranked teams receiving a first-round bye. If one or more of the five highest-ranked conference champions are ranked outside the top 12, that team or teams would move up to the 12th seed, 11th seed, etc., based on the number of conference champions outside the top 12.

The easiest way to make the CFP is to win your conference. For a Power Four team like Texas, winning the SEC should guarantee a top-four ranking and therefore a top-four seed plus a first-round bye.

If Texas can’t win the SEC title, then it must

Be in the top 11 of the final rankings and ahead of at least one conference champion, likely the highest-ranked Group of Six conference champion

Be in the top 10 of the final rankings and ahead of at least two conference champions, likely the highest-ranked Group of Six conference champion and one other Power Four conference champion.

The second scenario is similar to the one that kept Alabama out of the 2024 CFP. The Crimson Tide were ranked No. 11 in the final rankings, but they were leapfrogged by No. 12 Arizona State and No. 16 Clemson and pushed out of the 12-team field.

Currently, the highest-ranked Group of Six team in the AP poll is Memphis at No. 22. They are the only G6 team in the top 25. James Madison, San Diego State, North Texas, and South Florida are in the receiving votes category.