For the second straight year, the Michigan football team didn’t need to bother watching the College Football Playoff selection show. Instead, Sunday brought confirmation that the 18th-ranked Wolverines are headed to Orlando, Fla., for the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl to play No. 13 Texas.

Reports surfaced Saturday that Michigan was set to play an SEC foe in the Citrus Bowl, to be played on New Year’s Eve. That opponent was revealed Sunday to be the highest ranked SEC team left out of the playoff: the Longhorns.

“We are excited to take part in the 80th Citrus Bowl, a game that traditionally features some of the most storied programs in college football,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said in a statement. “Our team is eager for the challenge of competing against Texas, and it is a great honor to represent the Big Ten on this stage. We look forward to the trip to Orlando and the opportunity to close out our season against a talented Longhorn squad led by coach Steve Sarkisian.”

The game is far from a rematch of last season’s meeting in Ann Arbor, in which Texas, en route to an eventual national semifinal appearance, dominated. This year, the Longhorns floundered after starting the year ranked second, while the Wolverines largely performed to preseason expectations.

Both teams have No. 2 Ohio State to blame for the exclusion from the playoff. Texas suffered a Week 1 loss in a premier matchup, and two conference losses sealed its fate. Michigan needed to end its season with an upset and, instead, saw the end of its four-year rivalry win streak.

The matchup will feature two of the last three No. 1 overall recruits — Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning and Wolverines freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood — both of whom failed to live up to gargantuan expectations as first-year starters. As their teammates with NFL Draft aspirations inevitably opt out, both quarterbacks will seek to create optimism going into next year.

Moore claimed after the Wolverines’ loss to the Buckeyes that a 10-win season would be a success for his young group. Although it’s not a playoff game, Moore has a high-profile bowl matchup to achieve that.

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