Can the Texas Longhorns still make the College Football Playoff? Saturday's action is moving in their favor

Texas Tech shut down any hopes BYU had of slipping into the playoff conversation Saturday, rolling to a 34-7 win at AT&T Stadium. The two-loss Cougars are expected to fall behind Texas in Sunday’s rankings.

Georgia is putting on a show. The Bulldogs led Alabama 14-0 at halftime, and the committee is expected to favor three-loss Texas over three-loss Alabama. Ohio State also needs to beat Indiana; while that may confuse some Texas fans, a Buckeyes win would lessen the sting of UT’s 14-7 loss in late August — a game that carried no conference implications.

Duke now needs a win over Virginia in the ACC title game. The Cavaliers enter ranked No. 16, and with the committee taking only the five highest-ranked conference champions, James Madison would receive the bid if Virginia prevails.

ESPN’s Matt Schick weighed in on Texas’ playoff outlook on X, arguing the Longhorns’ inconsistency — not their scheduling of Ohio State — is what could keep them out of the College Football Playoff. Schick pointed to Texas’ four other true road games, noting a loss at Florida, overtime wins at Kentucky and Mississippi State, and another narrow finish as examples of a team that “was one of the most inconsistent in the country.”

Texas Senior Associate Athletic Director John Bianco pushed back, responding on X that close wins are part of life in the SEC and should not diminish the Longhorns’ résumé.

Lots of weighing in on us. If close wins don’t count, I’d say you don’t have full context of the SEC and the hard-fought/closely contested wins all our top-15 teams had. I’ll stand behind the fact that we won 6 of last 7 (3 over teams CFP committee deemed top-15/2 vs top-10s)🤘🏻

— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) December 3, 2025

The College Football Playoff selection show is scheduled for 11 a.m. Central on Sunday on ESPN.