Rankings slate Texas Longhorns to face Alabama in the College Football Playoffs

The Texas Longhorns earn a No. 5 spot in the first College Football Playoff rankings, slating the Horns to play the Alabama Crimson Tide in the first round.
Mississippi State v Texas
Mississippi State v Texas / Tim Warner/GettyImages
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It's official, the Texas Longhorns are in... to the first release of the College Football Playoff rankings. The Horns earned the No. 5 spot, but are the sixth seed, in the rankings and are slated to play none other than the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Many of the talking heads at ESPN's desk for the release – Rece Davis, Booger McFarland, Joey Galloway, and Greg McElroy – immediately said it was too high. The Horns don't have the strength of schedule, the Horns lost to Georgia in their first real test of the season, etc.

McElroy immediately mentioned that Texas already has a loss and hasn't defeated a genuine top-tier team yet this season. Meanwhile, a team like BYU defeated then-No. 13 Kansas State yet fell to No. 9 on the CFP rankings.

However, those talking heads have to keep in mind that Texas has held its opponents to a minimal 11.5 points per game, easily blew past the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, and kept then-No. 18 from scoring a single touchdown.

Texas isn't quite as good as everyone expected them to be but a No. 5 national ranking is far from outrageous. The Longhorns are 7-1 at the end of the day and have held their own, for the most part, against their SEC opponents.

Not to mention, McElroy, the talking head whose head spoke the loudest about Texas being overrated, is the same Greg McElroy who was on the Alabama team that defeated Texas in the 2009 National Championship game.

With Texas seeded No. 6 in the nation and Alabama with the No. 11 seed, the Horns would host the Crimson Tide in Austin for the first round of the CFPs.

The winner of the first-round matchup would go on to face the five-seed Miami Hurricanes who are projected to finish as the ACC Champions after the conference championship game.

While McElroy, McFarland, Davis, and Galloway may not love the Longhorns at No. 5, Texas fans sure are loving it...

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