Texas Football: 2020 CFP odds spot Sooners, Aggies behind Longhorns

The predictions and odds for the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship are already rolling in with Texas football included.

It’s about the time for the way-too-early College Football Playoff discussion to begin for the 2019-20 season. The conclusion of the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship saw the Clemson Tigers absolutely dominate the Alabama Crimson Tide. That left fans of programs like Texas football watching and wondering what the following season holds in store.

Texas football enters the 2019 campaign with high hopes of contending for a spot in the College Football Playoff (and possibly the national title game) and taking a Big 12 Title back to the Forty Acres. Getting to the Playoff in the first place starts with winning the Big 12 Championship Game, something Texas football was unable to accomplish in 2018.

However, the fact that the Texas Longhorns made it all the way to the Big 12 Championship Game in the first place this year is a symbol of the progress made in 2018. Head Texas football coach Tom Herman has his program on the right track which is shown by the appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game and the Allstate Sugar Bowl victory over the vaunted Georgia Bulldogs.

The odds that were set so far early on for the 2019-20 season for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game were interesting in some spots. Teams that lose a lot like the Penn State Nittany Lions, Auburn Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Michigan State Spartans, and Florida State Seminoles seemed a little far fetched. Miami, Michigan State, Florida State, and Auburn had down 2018 seasons anyway which made for a weird placement with these odds.

Nonetheless, Texas football did work its way into these odds given the seventh best spot among any team in the nation. The Horns were tied with the Wisconsin Badgers for the seventh spot in the 2019-20 College Football Playoff National Championship odds. The placement next to Wisconsin even seems a bit off.

It does seem like teams like Miami and Wisconsin always get favorable placements for these types of odds, despite the fact that these two teams met in the Pinstripe Bowl in a battle for each to get its eighth win of the 2018 season. At least there’s still a ton of time left for this picture to change in relation to next year’s Playoff.

Moreover, the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship Game is set to be played at the home of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA, where the Horns took down Georgia on Jan. 1. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is set to be the site of next year’s national title game on Jan. 13. That is almost a full week later than this year’s national title game.

To no surprise, the two favorites to win the national title next year are the same ones who claimed the last four, Alabama and Clemson. We get very accustomed to seeing head coaches Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney in the national title game.

But, the early odds do show that there’s a good chance we could see the Horns taking part in next year’s four team Playoff field. There’s a ton of hurdles for the Horns to get over before that point arrives, but it is within sight after a 10-4 (7-3 Big 12) 2018 campaign that finished with a top-10 ranking in the AP Poll. This team also has some optimism behind the return of rising junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger.