Why Texas Needs to Be Ahead of Alabama in Final College Football Playoff Rankings

Should the Texas Longhorns be ranked above another SEC team when the final College Football Playoff rankings come out?

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian greets Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe on the field during warmups at Bryant-Denny Stadium. | John David Mercer-Imagn Images

The conference championship weekend is already completed, with the Texas Longhorns not participating in this year's SEC championship game after being in it a year ago. For Texas, its last regular-season matchup was a statement win, scoring the massive upset over the then-ranked No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies by double digits.

And now with the final College Football Playoff rankings on the horizon, teams with spots already secured and those looking for one of the final at-large bids find out their fate for the postseason.

With the Longhorns being the latter, hoping a case can be made for them at 9-3 to make the College Football Playoff over some of the other teams ranked ahead of them. Interestingly, looking at the numbers, the Longhorns should have a case over another fellow SEC team.

Texas Longhorns vs. Alabam Resumes

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning throws a pass during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

That other SEC team is the Alabama Crimson Tide, which now sits with the same 9-3 record as the Longhorns after losing handily in the SEC Championship game to the Georgia Bulldogs after falling 28-7.

Taking a deeper look at the two resumes, the Longhorns have two of their losses to some of the best teams in the country, with a loss to what was the No. 1 team in the country for the majority of the regular season in the Ohio State Buckeyes, and then a Georgia team that is peaking at the right time. Texas's third loss is not necessarily a good one, losing to 4-8 Florida on the road midseason.

For the Crimson Tide, two of their losses came to teams currently ranked in the College Football Playoff, falling to the Oklahoma Sooners at home and then the recent conference championship loss to the Bulldogs. Alabama's third loss, much like Texas, is a blemish on its record, losing convincingly to a 5-7 Florida State Seminoles team back in Week 1.

Looking at shared opponents, the Longhorns took care of business against the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry with a stifling 23-6 victory while the Crimson Tide lost to Oklahoma at home 23-21. And while Alabama beat Georgia in Athens 24-21 in the regular season and the Longhorns lost when visiting Georgia, 35-10, the Bulldogs avenged their loss in the conference championship, wiping away the Crimson Tide's best win of the season.

And breaking down the teams' third loss, with the Longhorns losing down in Gainesville by one score to the Gators and the Crimson Tide being run off by the Seminoles, those two teams squared off this regular season in the Sunshine Showdown. With Florida blowing out Florida State 40-21, giving more context to the strength of the Gators and what should ease the damage it does to the Longhorns' stock.