With the first College Football Playoff rankings approaching, the Texas football team has hopes of claiming a high spot.
Despite missing quarterback Quinn Ewers for two games and enduring several other key injuries, No. 6 Texas (7-1, 3-1 SEC) remains a heavy favorite to seize one of the 12 spots in the first year of the expanded CFP. Winning the SEC would ensure the Longhorns of one of the top four seeds, and Texas still has an almost clear path to the SEC title game Dec. 7 in Atlanta if it wins the rest of its four regular-season games.
If the Longhorns don’t win the SEC title, the best-case scenario would be claiming one the Nos. 5-8 seeds and hosting a first-round playoff game.
GOLDEN:Who is Texas football’s most improved player? Give me tight end Gunnar Helm
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2024 season will be released Tuesday, Nov. 5. A new top 25 ranking is then released by the CFP selection committee every Tuesday through Dec. 3. There is a CFP selection show Dec. 8 to announce the 12-team playoff field.
The College Football Playoff rankings are released each week through a CFP rankings show broadcasted by ESPN beginning at 6 p.m. every Tuesday from Nov. 5 through Dec. 3.
RELATED:Will Texas safety Andrew Mukuba return for Florida game?
Prior to this weekend’s action, the ESPN bowl-projecting duo of Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach both have the Longhorns missing out on the bye that comes with an SEC title but gave Texas a first-round home game. Schlabach projects a first-round rivalry matchup between No. 7 Texas and No. 10 Texas A&M in a rematch of the regular-season finale while Bonagura has eighth-seeded Texas hosting ninth-seeded Notre Dame.
At the Action Network, Brett McMurphy projected the Longhorns to be the No. 8 seed in his weekly bowl outlook. In his scenario, Texas would host No. 9 Clemson.
At Athlon Sports, Steve Lassan gave the Longhorns the coveted No. 5 spot, which would almost certainly match up with the Group of Five’s representative in the CFP. In Lassan’s projection, that representative is Boise State.
The College Football Playoff rankings show will air on ESPN, with the broadcast starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Fans can also stream the show on Fubo, which is a offering a free trial.
There are 12 teams in the College Football Playoff for the first time this season, after the CFP was introduced in 2014 with a four-team format. The expansion is set in place for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Leaders within the sport have not agreed to the framework of the playoff beyond that at this point.
The 12 participating teams in the College Football Playoff bracket will be the five conference champions ranked highest by the CFP selection committee, and the next seven highest-ranked teams.
The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and receive a first-round bye. The fifth conference champion will be seeded where it was ranked or at No. 12 if it is outside the top 12 in the CFP rankings. Non-conference champions ranked in the top four will be seeded beginning at No. 5.
“Because of this,” the CFP warns on its website, “the seeding, 1 through 12, could look different than the final rankings.”
For the first round, the better-ranked team in each pairing (5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, 8 vs. 9) will serve as host on campus. The winners advance to the quarterfinals and match up with the corresponding top-four conference champion based on seeding. Quarterfinal games will played at the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The semifinals — played at the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl Classic — will take place Jan. 9-10.
The two semifinal winners will play for the national championship Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
