2024 Preseason 12-team College Football Playoff rankings prediction
Head coach Steve Sarkisian led the Texas football program to its first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff in its final year as a four-team field this past postseason. Texas made its way into the four-team Playoff last season after winning the Big 12 Championship and finishing the regular season with only one loss.
Preseason 2024 College Football Playoff Predictions, including Texas football
Now that the College Football Playoff field has expanded to 12 teams, the Longhorns theoretically have a more lenient path to the CFP. That comes with a large asterisk because the Longhorns are joining the toughest conference in college football in the SEC for this upcoming season in 2024, upping the difficulty compared to what Texas faced over the last few decades in conference play in the Big 12.
Sarkisian's squad ranked in the top five in the major preseason polls earlier this month (No. 4 in the preseason AP Poll and Coaches Poll). Texas is expected to be in the thick of the conversation for a spot in the Playoff for the second straight year entering 2024.
Rank | Team | Why are they here | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ohio State | Big Ten Champion | N/A |
2 | Georgia | SEC Champion | N/A |
3 | Utah | Big 12 Champion | N/A |
4 | Miami | ACC Champion | N/A |
5 | Penn State | At-Large | N/A |
6 | Tennessee | At-Large | N/A |
7 | Oregon | At-Large | N/A |
8 | Texas | At-Large | N/A |
9 | Ole Miss | At-Large | N/A |
10 | Mizzou | At-Large | N/A |
11 | Iowa | At-Large | N/A |
12 | Liberty | Highest-ranked Group of Five Conference Champion | N/A |
Regardless of where the Longhorns finish in the SEC standings this season, if they at least win nine games that should be enough to get in the Playoff at least as an at-large bid. According to ESPN's FPI strength of schedule, the Longhorns have the 10th toughest schedule in the FBS in the 2024 season.
Texas winning nine or 10 games should easily be enough to get in the top 10 in the CFP rankings by the regular season's finish, given the top 10 strength of schedule difficulty.
Among the at-large bids, it seems very likely that the SEC and Big Ten get at least five or six combined teams in the mix (along with the two teams representing each conference as champions for the postseason).
The ACC and/or Big 12 would have to boast two very solid teams from each respective conference to have one or more at-large teams coming from their conferences this upcoming postseason.
Check out our latest Texas football articles on Hook'em Headlines
feed