Texas Longhorns College Football Playoff Odds Remain Among Best in Country
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Longhorns have a lot more to prove after Saturday's 34-30 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners, but it's hardly a lost season for a program that could be on the cusp of breaking through.
Texas, which has no current ranked teams left on its schedule, will obviously have to win out to give itself any chance of a Big 12 title game berth. The Longhorns will also need the 4-1 West Virginia Mountaineers to drop a game or two at some point along the way since Texas doesn't play WVU this season. If -- and it's a big if -- this all goes right for the Longhorns, they'd likely set up a rematch with Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship. Should the two rivals head into that potential meeting having won their final six games, the winner will likely be headed to the College Football Playoff and the loser likely eliminated from contention.
All of this is easier said than done of course in the unpredictable sport that is college football, but ESPN's Football Power Index likes Texas' chances of making it to the CFP. Per the FPI, the Longhorns currently have the fifth-best chances to make the College Football Playoff at 31.9 percent. But after their win over Texas, FPI now gives the Sooners the best chances of making it to the Playoff at 70.9 percent.
Here's the complete top five for chances to makes CFP:
Oklahoma - 70.9 percent
Ohio State - 52.9 percent
Georgia - 42 percent
Oregon - 39.9 percent
Texas - 31.9 percent
Quinn Ewers
© Kevin Jairaj, USA TODAY
Based on both of their remaining schedule and current record, the Longhorns and Sooners might be on a collision course for a meeting in the Big 12 Championship.
Meanwhile, current undefeated teams like Oregon, Washington and USC still have to all play one another, leaving likely only one standing from the pack with a real shot of making it following the PAC-12 Championship. The same goes for Penn State
But we could sit here and talk about "ifs" and scenarios all day. The Longhorns will have to first take care of business after their bye week when they face the Houston Cougars at TDECU Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 21.
