Texas Longhorns Officially Miss Out on College Football Playoff Bracket

The Texas Longhorns started the season as the No. 1 team in college football with the Heisman Trophy favorite.

And after some bumps and bruises, Texas finished the regular season with a 9-3 record and three wins over Top-15 teams in the current College Football Playoff rankings.

But now, after back-to-back trips to the national semifinals, the Longhorns will have to watch from home as other teams compete for the National Championship.

Texas Longhorns First Four Out of College Football Playoff

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian pauses during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The official 12-team College Football Playoff bracket was revealed on Sunday, and unsurprisingly, the Longhorns were left out at No. 13 in the rankings.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and BYU Cougars were listed as the first two teams out with Texas right behind them in the rankings.

The Longhorns will now have to watch as three of their biggest rivals (Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma) all get a chance to compete for the National Championship.

Full College Football Playoff Bracket

Here's a look at the entire 12-team CFP bracket:

The Indiana Hoosiers are the No. 1 overall seed after taking down the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship.

BREAKING: The College Football Playoff Bracket is SET🏆

Who will win it all? 🤔https://t.co/oqde6Tun6B pic.twitter.com/2Ko4DxmWkG
— On3 (@On3sports) December 7, 2025

Texas' Loss to Florida Officially Comes Back to Bite Longhorns

Florida Gators linebacker Aaron Chiles pushes Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning out of bounds during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

The Longhorns will now look back on their 29-21 loss to Florida, a team that finished 4-8, on Oct. 4 as the

CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek said last week that the major reason Texas was being left outside the Top 12 headed into championship weekend was due to that loss against the Gators in "The Swamp."

"The committee has a great deal of respect for Texas and they've played an incredible schedule," Yurachek said. "They've got four teams they played in our top 10. They beat OU on a neutral field. They just beat Texas A&M at home this past weekend. They lost to No. 1, Ohio State, and lost to No. 3, Georgia."

"But one key stat this week in the teams ranked in our top 15, there's 17 total losses for those teams," Yurachek continued. "16 of those losses came against teams that are currently ranked or have been ranked in our top 25 this year. The only loss to an unranked team was Texas's loss to Florida at Florida, and really Florida dominated that game, held Texas to 50 yards rushing, two interceptions. So it's not that Texas played Ohio State; it is Texas' loss to Florida that's holding them back now."