The College Football Playoff selection committee released its first set of rankings for the season, and it is clear that analytics played no part in it. The Texas Longhorns came in as the No. 11 team in the country based on the rankings, but that doesn't quite put them in the College Football Playoff.
With the format of the playoff, the four highest-ranked conference champions will get automatic bids, which, with Texas at No. 11 right now and the ACC not having someone ranked in the Top 12 right now, would knock Texas out. However, with the schedule that the Longhorns have left, they have a chance to work their way up the rankings.
The initial College Football Playoff Rankings and the projected 12-team bracket: pic.twitter.com/jdeKYWIvhs
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 5, 2025
The Longhorns have losses to No. 1 Ohio State and an unranked Florida Gators team, but that didn't stop the committee from putting Texas close to making it in. Based on the eye test, Texas is looking pretty good. They have a win against Oklahoma, which is just behind the Longhorns at No. 12, and a recent win over No. 16 Vanderbilt.
Even the announcers on the release show agreed that these first rankings were based on the eye test, saying that if it were based on analytics, even Texas A&M could be considered as the No. 1 team.
"I wanted to see this ranking but this tells me that they are going a lot on eye test here because if we are going on rankings and analytics, Texas A&M is best analytically over Indiana and Ohio State," Joey Galloway said.
While Texas has struggled this season, they have games against No. 5 Georgia and No. 3 Texas A&M left on the schedule, and wins in those games could certainly boost the Longhorns into the safety of the top 10 and not have to worry about not making it in because of the conference champion automatic byes.
Quarterback Arch Manning is finally looking like the guy Texas was hoping to have this season when he played against Vanderbilt. The Longhorns need to play their best football of the season right now and secure wins against the Bulldogs and the Aggies in order to be safe in the rankings.