Texas lost a lot more than the top spot in the polls last week.
Georgia delivered a resounding statement in Austin, taking down the Longhorns 30-15. The rabid tenor in Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart’s voice after the game affirmed that they came to Texas hungry to hush doubters.
In the process, Georgia reclaimed top billing in the SEC and College Football Playoff pecking order.
The Bulldogs also delivered a devastating shot to Texas’ bid to enter the first ever 12-team playoff with a bye that would currently belong to Georgia.
At 6-1, there’s still time for the Longhorns to make good on that plan. But there are more steps — and variables beyond their control — because of a resume currently lacking a victory over a Top 25 team. Texas beat Michigan in Ann Arbor and roughed up rival Oklahoma. But neither team is currently ranked and the Wolverines are dropping in the Big Ten standings with all the weight of a deep-fried championship trophy.
The resume is incomplete, but weak stacked against the rest of the top six in our projections. How the committee filets the overall product when the first rankings are revealed Nov. 5 will be fascinating largely because the Longhorns won’t have many profile-building opportunities the rest of October and November.
Even so, a potential rematch with the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship remains on the table as the possible ticket back to one of the four opening-round byes in the playoffs. A loss in that game, especially another two-score defeat, could be devastating to Texas’ at-large hopes when Selection Sunday arrives Dec. 8.
Here’s a look at the projected 12-team playoff two months before the four campus site matchups are scheduled to be played:
FIRST FOUR (campus site first-round games)
Dec. 20, 21
5 Ohio State
12 Boise State
–Winner vs. 4 Kansas State, Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31
—-Winner to Orange Bowl, Jan. 10
8 LSU
9 Penn State
–Winner vs. 1 Georgia, Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1
—-Winner to Orange Bowl, Jan. 10
10 Notre Dame
7 Texas
–Winner vs. 2 Oregon, Rose Bowl, Jan. 1
—-Winner to Cotton Bowl, Jan. 10
11 BYU
6 Clemson
–Winner vs. 3 Miami, Peach Bowl, Jan. 1
—-Winner to Cotton Bowl, Jan. 10
TEAMS IN THE WAY
Alabama: We’ll soon know whether reputation matters with the committee, but the Crimson Tide get at least one more chance to claw back into the at-large conversation with a Nov. 9 trip to LSU.
Illinois: Anyone see the Fighting Illini coming as a 6-1 contender at the halfway mark? The season hits a dramatic T in Eugene this weekend. A win over the Ducks puts Bret Bielema’s team in the at-large field.
Indiana: Hoosier Hysteria is hanging around into November based on a dominant defense that undressed Nebraska in a 56-7 whitewash. Hurdles to the playoffs are significant, but will you believe if Indiana takes down Ohio State in Columbus?
Iowa State: With each passing Saturday, the Big 12 looks more and more like a conference deserving of only one bid in this playoff. Can the Cyclones separate from the crowd? Yes, but perhaps only by edging Kansas State next month.
Pittsburgh: Quite the revival is taking place at Pitt, the No. 19 team in the country and seemingly in the 100s on the national radar. The Panthers add a dash of legitimacy to their contender status if they can win the next two weeks: Thursday vs. Syracuse and the following week at SMU.
SMU: Some aren’t yet aware the Mustangs are a) in the ACC and undefeated in conference play and b) three measly points from being perfect this season.
Tennessee: The number of one-loss SEC teams soon dwindles based on head-to-head matchups. The Vols jumped Alabama by beating the Crimson Tide last week and the schedule has a few Sharpie-circled dates left, none bigger than Nov. 16 at Georgia.
Texas A&M: The opening loss to Notre Dame doesn’t look as troubling these days and getting LSU in College Station this weekend would really rev up the Aggies’ playoff chatter.
