This is something that's going to tick off Texas fans for quite some time. On Sunday, the news that everyone was worried would come in arrived, with the Longhorns officially getting snubbed for the 2025 College Football Playoff. It wasn't a shock, but that doesn't mean it still didn't hurt.
Texas fans self-destruct on social media after learning CFP fate
Now that Texas won't be among the final 12, it's time to focus on bowl season. For Steve Sarkisian, Arch Manning and the rest of the Longhorns, they've just found out that they'll be taking on Bryce Underwood and Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. All this because of the loss to Ohio State? That would appear to be the case:
NEWS: Texas & Michigan will play in the Citrus Bowl, @Brett_McMurphy reports👀https://t.co/EPBL5a4KVT pic.twitter.com/K4Y0Ss4gs0
— On3 (@On3sports) December 7, 2025
Texas will take on Michigan in the 2025 Citrus Bowl
Before the campaign got started, did anyone think Texas would be playing in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl? No disrespect there, but Texas was the No. 1 team in the country and Manning was getting a ton of Heisman hype.
However, following the loss to Ohio State, Texas also posted losses to Florida and Georgia. However, its resume also included some big-time wins over Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. Following that win over the Aggies, Sark was fired up and he was pushing for UT to make it in.
At the end of the day, though, the three losses came back to haunt the Longhorns and they've been left out of the CFP. Does this all come back to the loss to Ohio State to open the season on the road in Columbus? That's an argument that's going to be present for a little while.
If anything, it should also be an eye-opener for Texas to try and avoid these kinds of marquee non-conference games in the future. This is all a bummer for Texas and while a showdown against Michigan and Underwood might seem exciting on paper, who knows if he decides to play or opt out. The same could be said for Manning.