Before the 2025 college football season began, the Texas Longhornswere the number one ranked team in the country. Texas is off to a 2-1 start this season, but they are ranked eighth in the country.
After making it to the college football playoffs semifinals in the last two seasons, many college football fans believed that they were finally ready to take the next step. Quarterback Arch Manning has not looked good through his first three games. A lot of college football analysts believed that Manning was going to live up to the hype. There is still time for Manning to turn it around and lead Texas back to the playoffs. The question is, will the Longhorns actually get back to the playoffs this season?
Texas Longhorns are Projected to Miss the College Football Playoffs In 2025
Many people were predicting Texas to win the SEC Conference this season. If the Longhorns were to win the SEC Conference, there is no doubt that they would receive a top four seed and a first-round bye. Well, Heather Dinch of espn.com wrote about the Longhorns current odds to make the college football playoffs in 2025. Dinch said,
" In the latest top 12 projection, the No. 12 Longhorns would be out of the playoff to make room for projected American champion South Florida. Let that sink in for a minute: The most hyped team in America this preseason is now projected to watch the playoff from home. ESPN Analytics gives Texas the fourth-best chance to reach the SEC championship game (26%) behind Georgia, Ole Miss and Alabama. The Longhorns' season-opening road loss to Ohio State isn't the problem -- it's the product on the field. Quarterback Arch Manning has a QBR of 49.6, No. 88 in the country. He completed 44% of his passes against UTEP on Saturday and threw an interception in the end zone. It's not just Manning. Penalties. Third-down conversions. Red zone efficiency (or lack thereof)."
There are four games that will decide the Longhorns playoff fate. When they face #11 Oklahoma Sooners on October 11, they will be facing a much-improved Sooners team from a season ago. Quarterback John Mateer maybe the best quarterback in the SEC Conference at the moment.
Texas will face #20 Vanderbilt Commodores on November 1. It is a game that the Longhorns will be favored in, but the Commodores will not be a pushover. Two weeks later, Texas will be on the road to face #5 Georgia Bulldogs. In the last game of the regular season on November 28, they will face #10 Texas A&M Aggies.
The Longhorns schedule is extremely difficult, but they will be the home team for most of the games. If Texas's only loss was against Georgia during the remainder of the regular season, the Longhorns should be in the college football playoff field. However, if the Longhorns lose other games along the way, there is a good chance that Texas is on the outside looking in. It would be a huge disappointment for this football program and head coach Steve Sarkisian.
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