Just like that, with three losses and just seven wins, the Texas Longhorns have likely seen their hopes vanish to make a third consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoffs.
Following the 25-point loss to the Bulldogs, everyone should have known that the Horns would drop in the rankings after heading to Georgia with the No. 10 spot in the CFP rankings. On Tuesday night, it was released that Texas had fallen seven spots, all the way to No. 17.
Because they already had three losses with just two games remaining, and one against an unranked Arkansas, holding a spot beyond the 12-team Playoffs was likely for the rest of the season for the Longhorns.
Can Texas make it to the Playoffs?
During ESPN's College Football Playoff ranking reveal on Tuesday night, analyst Greg McElroy said that he believes that the Horns' hopes for the postseason are gone entirely.
While the game against Arkansas won't truly help Texas's argument to make it into the Playoffs, the Horns' game against the No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies, who are 10-0 overall, a week later could change things entirely.
If the Longhorns can pull off the upset win over the Aggies, there is still a slight chance that they could find themselves in the College Football Playoffs.
However, it would have to be a dominant performance by the Horns, and it would still only be a small chance that they could climb back into a top-12 spot (which would truly need to be even higher since the ACC and a Group-of-5 team will likely get the lowest two seeds.
In the AP Top 25 Poll, which isn't supposed to have any bearing on the CFP rankings, the Longhorns were also ranked 17th in the nation.
No. 17 Texas (7-3 overall, 4-2 SEC) hosts the unranked Razorbacks (2-8 overall, 0-6 SEC) at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 22, and it will be broadcast on ABC. One week later, on Saturday, Nov. 29, the Longhorns will host the No. 3 Aggies (currently 10-0 overall, and 7-0 SEC) at 6:30 p.m. CT, and it will also be broadcast on ABC.