Texas Longhorns Still Not Properly Ranked in Latest College Football Playoff Rankings

There's still debate surrounding the Texas Longhorns' placement in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian waits to lead his team onto the field prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The second edition of the 2025 College Football Playoff rankings have been released, and it seems the committee is still just off the mark a bit when it comes to properly ranking the Texas Longhorns.

Texas moved up one spot in Tuesday's rankings to No. 10 after debuting at No. 11 in the initial CFP Top 25 last week. In this scenario, the Longhorns would be in the bracket as an at-large and would play No. 7 Ole Miss in Oxford in the first round.

Though the committee did the right thing by placing Texas above the Oklahoma Sooners once again, there is still some question marks about the Longhorns' latest ranking, most notably when it comes to who they are behind.

Texas Still Behind Notre Dame

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian talks with quarterback Arch Manning during a timeout in the second half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came in at No. 9 in the latest rankings after securing a 41-10 win over Navy. This marked Notre Dame's seventh straight win.

After starting 0-2, Notre Dame has been one of the hottest teams in the country as of late, but still have the same record as Texas with a less impressive resume. It's far from a stretch to say that the Longhorns should be ranked ahead of the Irish, though many fans around the country can't see that due to being blinded by their hate for Texas.

While Texas has secured a pair of AP Top 10 wins over Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, the Longhorns also have arguably the "best loss" in the country this season with a 14-7 defeat in Columbus against Ohio State to begin the year.

Of course, the most obvious blemish on the Longhorns' resume is the 29-21 loss in Gainesville to the Florida Gators on Oct. 4, but Texas has bounced back with a four-game winning streak, beating OU and Vandy along the way.

The Fighting Irish had two quality losses to open the season against Miami and Texas A&M, but don't have the quality wins to pair with it. Notre Dame beat the USC Trojans 34-24 at home on Oct. 18, but have beaten up on inferior competition in the weeks since then.

That could all change this weekend if the Irish can beat Pitt on the road, securing another quality win. But in the meantime, we think that there's no reason why Notre Dame should be ahead of Texas when it looking at each team's current resume headed into Saturday.

Latest College Football Playoff Top 25

The College Football Playoff National Championship trophy at press conference at The Westin Peachtree Plaza, Savannah Ballroom. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

No. 1 - Ohio State Buckeyes

No. 2 - Indiana Hoosiers

No. 3 - Texas A&M Aggies

No. 4 - Alabama Crimson Tide

No. 5 - Georgia Bulldogs

No. 6 - Texas Tech Red Raiders

No. 7 - Ole Miss Rebels

No. 8 - Oregon Ducks

No. 9 - Notre Dame Fighting Irish

No. 10 - Texas Longhorns

No. 11 - Oklahoma Sooners

No. 12 - BYU Cougars

No. 13 - Utah Utes

No. 14 - Vanderbilt Commodores

No. 15 - Miami Hurricanes

No. 16 - Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

No. 17 - USC Trojans

No. 18 - Michigan Wolverines

No. 19 - Virginia Cavaliers

No. 20 - Louisville Cardinals

No. 21 - Iowa Hawkeyes

No. 22 - Pitt Panthers

No. 23 - Tennessee Volunteers

No. 24 - South Florida Bulls

No. 25 - Cincinnati Bearcats