The Texas Longhorns were included in the first College Football Playoff bracket of the season, clinching the No. 7 seed. However, there are four regular-season games remaining on the Horns' schedule.
Now, Texas doesn't need to be perfect over the next month; the team already has the most ranked wins in the country as of now, but there is one game that the Horns cannot afford to misstep in: the Lone Star Showdown.
When the Longhorns head to College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies in the final regular-season game of the year, Texas won't exactly be facing the best version of its in-state rival. However, as any rivalry game goes, there is always the risk of the underdog coming out on top (just look at how this year's Cotton Bowl unfolded).
So, while Texas could theoretically lose to the No. 18 Missouri Tigers or the No. 14 LSU Tigers over the next two weeks, and the Horns should expect to blow the doors off the Arkansas Razorbacks, head coach Steve Sarkisian must ensure that his team is as focused as ever on demolishing the Aggies.
While Texas has the most ranked wins in the nation, it also has two extremely disappointing losses to unranked opponents: the Oklahoma Sooners (bleh) and the Florida Gators.
Another loss to an unranked team, like the Aggies, would virtually negate any of those ranked wins that the Horns have worked so hard to secure, even if Texas defeated both Missouri and LSU.
Arkansas may be a guaranteed win, but Texas A&M can't be overlooked
The Razorbacks are so bad, and have been so bad against Texas, that most people are already penciling that game in as a win. While Sarkisian can't entirely gloss over that matchup, it simply doesn't present the same kind of challenge that the Texas A&M game could.
The Aggies, no matter how good or bad they are, have always been one of the Horns' fiercest rivals, just like the Sooners.
And, as I said, rivalry games are always anyone's game to win or lose. That applies to this year's Lone Star Showdown, even though the Aggies are quickly sinking to the bottom of the SEC and the Horns are gradually working their way back up.
A loss to a team as bad as Texas A&M has looked, even though it's a rivalry game, could completely negate the Longhorns' viability in the Playoff in the eyes of the CFP Committee. So, it is truly the game that could ruin the season for the Horns.
Texas Longhorns' remaining regular-season schedule after first CFP reveal
- at No. 18 Missouri Tigers -- Saturday, Nov. 7 (ESPN)
- at No. 14 LSU Tigers -- Saturday, Nov. 14 (ABC)
- vs. Arkansas Razorbacks -- Saturday, Nov. 21
- at Texas A&M Aggies -- Friday, Nov. 27 (ABC)
Of course, if Texas loses to both LSU and Missouri, then the Horns might as well write off their trip to the postseason tournament before Arkansas even comes to town, much less by the time they make the trip to College Station.
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