When the College Football Playoff Committee released its initial top-25 ranking and first playoff bracket of the 2025 season, it not only gave the Texas Longhorns a seat at the table but also gave them exactly what they had been asking to see for weeks.
Less than a month earlier, the Horns stormed into the Cotton Bowl and defeated the then-No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners. Since then, OU somehow remained ahead of Texas in the AP Top 25 Poll, causing outrage among Longhorn fans and their favorite program.
On Tuesday night, the CFP Committee righted that wrong, placing the Longhorns at No. 11 and the Sooners one spot behind them.
Longhorns leapfrog Sooners in rankings
Despite the AP Poll adamantly leaving Oklahoma ranked ahead of Texas, placing the Sooners in 11th and the Longhorns in 13th, the CFP Committee saw straight through OU's smoke and mirrors.
First 2025 College Football Playoff rankings
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Ole Miss Rebels
- BYU Cougars
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Oregon Ducks
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Texas Longhorns
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Utah Utes
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Louisville Cardinals
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Miami Hurricanes
- USC Trojans
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Michigan Wolverines
- Missouri Tigers
- Washington Huskies
- Pitt Panthers
- Tennessee Volunteers
While the rankings place both Texas and Oklahoma right on the edge of the playoff bracket, they gave the Horns the justice that they have been asking for since trouncing the Sooners 23-6 in the Red River Rivalry.
Over the next four weeks, both teams will have the opportunity to cement themselves within the top-12 spots or send themselves to a much less desirable postseason game. Oklahoma has the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 22 Missouri Tigers still on the schedule.
Meanwhile, the Horns have to face the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs, No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies, and the Arkansas Razorbacks in their last three games of the regular season.
After a bye this week, the Longhorns have to travel to Athens to face the Bulldogs in a game that could make or break the rest of their season. No. 11 Texas and No. 5 Georgia are scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 15, and the game will be broadcast on ABC.