Texas football: instant reaction to Longhorns first CFP rankings of 2023
By Josh Yourish
The only blemish on the Texas Longhorn’s resume is a last-second loss to Oklahoma. Yet in the first installment of the College Football Playoff rankings, the Longhorns found themselves two spots ahead of the Sooners.
Since winning the Red River Rivalry, Oklahoma has a two-point win over UCF and a five-point loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, without Jalon Daniels. The Sooners have certainly hurt their case and that bad loss to Kansas was a gift to Steve Sarkisian and Texas.
The Longhorns needed to catch a break after losing their quarterback to a shoulder injury. Texas still got past BYU with Maalik Murphy at quarterback and the biggest win on their resume is keeping them in front of Alabama. Quin Ewers should return soon.
Today, Sark made the case that his team’s win in Tuscaloosa is the best win that any team has on their resume, citing Alabama’s 52-1 record at home in the previous 53 games prior to the Longhorns beating Nick Saban’s team. Sark also mentioned the rest of the SEC’s inability to win there this season when he spoke to reporters. Alabama is also 7-1 and ranked No. 8
The committee loves to say that teams will be rewarded for testing themselves in non-conference, but Oregon, who also has a last-second loss to a conference rival, is one spot ahead of Texas despite only beating Portland State, Texas Tech, and Hawaii to start the season.
The first reaction to these rankings is that Texas better add to its resume because by placing Texas in front of Oklahoma, the committee has shown that a head-to-head win only goes so far. Sark can’t lean on that win in Tuscaloosa forever, or the Longhorns could fall behind the Crimson Tide.