The Texas Longhorns could be one of the 'losers' of Week 10 without playing a game

The Texas Longhorns were relatively disappointed to see their ranking drop despite a top-25 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores in Week 9. Now, the Horns are on a bye but Week 10 could hold even bigger disappoints for Texas without the team playing a single snap.

The AP Top 25 rankings seem to be closer than ever this season. With two teams currently tied for the No. 11 spot and only eight undefeated teams remaining, Texas has had to fight to maintain its spot this season.

Currently, the Horns are ranked No. 6 in the country, losing out on the top-five spot to the Miami Hurricanes after Week 9. Right behind Texas in the rankings are No. 7 Tennessee and No. 10 Texas A&M who play in Week 10.

Those two SEC teams have been fairly dominant this season and have one loss a piece. If the Tennessee Volunteers and the Texas A&M Aggies topple their conference opponents this weekend, the Longhorns could find themselves dropping even farther in the rankings.

Rounding out the remainder of the top-10 are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at No. 8 and the BYU Cougars at No. 9, both of whom are also on byes in Week 10.

While it isn't likely that TAMU would leapfrog Notre Dame and Texas, especially since the Fighting Irish beat the Aggies in Week 1, the Vols have a very good chance of surpassing Texas –– a.k.a. the fake "UT" replacing the real one.

No. 7 Tennessee kicks off against Kentucky at at 6:45 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. No. 10 Texas A&M kicks off against South Carolina at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC and ESPN+. Both games could alter the fate of Texas' season.

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