CFP selection committee could punish Texas football with sobering reality as the ultimate rankings approach

For his part, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian refuses to worry about it, publicly anyway.

“We just try to play good football. And we try to do it the right way,” Sarkisian said Monday .”I know there’s probably a point differential and things involved. I took a knee inside the 10-yard line two weeks ago. We kneeled it out Saturday, because I think there’s a right way to play the game of football, and I don’t get caught up in what is the committee looking for.

“I think that our body of work is our body of work, and we try to play the game the right way.”

For the record, Texas remained third overall in Tuesday’s updated CFP rankings. If the season ended today, the Horns would be seeded second in the bracket. Texas would play the winner of the No. 7 Indiana and No. 10 Ole Miss.

Look at what the CFP committee did to BYU. After losing to Kansas last week, BYU dropped eight spots to No. 14. The Cougars have only one loss but got slammed.

The CFP committee clearly believes the Longhorns are going to keep winning. They are being treated as the would-be SEC champions at the moment.

But let’s look the other direction. If Texas somehow lost to 4-6 Kentucky this weekend, forget it. The Horns would plummet. A two-loss Texas with a loss to a Kentucky team that might finish the regular season with a losing record? The CFP committee would drop Texas like a bad habit.

What about the regular season finale against Texas A&M? If UT does get past UK — and A&M beats Auburn this weekend — then the Nov. 30 game would be for a spot in the SEC championship game.

It’s not a sure thing the Texas-A&M loser would have a spot in the 12-team format. It would depend on who else wins and loses. Right now, Georgia and Tennessee are still battling it out at the bottom of the top 12. Hard to see a committee member keeping Georgia out in favor of Texas knowing the Dawgs beat the Horns in Austin, if both teams have two losses.

It’s also no guarantee the SEC championship game loser automatically makes the 12-team CFP. Obviously, that sounds far-fetched, but again, anything can happen.

Most CFP mock brackets are figuring the SEC loser will be seeded 10th, 11th or 12th and play in the quarterfinals.

This is where Texas’ cache comes into play. Let’s say Texas and Alabama play for the SEC title, and the Crimson Tide wins a thriller. After all, it’s difficult to think this Texas squad can get blown out by anybody. So for this exercise, let’s say it’s close all the way but Bama wins in the end.

Texas has a strong case to be in the lower half of the top 12 with what would be an 11-2 overall record at that point. The Horns won’t be denied a CFP shot in that scenario.

For the Horns, making the SEC championship game is big in terms of CFP insurance.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin spoke out about coaches not wanting to play in the SEC title game, losing and then falling completely out of CFP favor. Maybe that’s pertinent for teams that already have two losses and take a third in Atlanta. That’s not Texas’ case.

Texas fans should just focus on Sarkisian’s state of mind. “We try to play the game the right way.”

For Texas, it’s simple. Beat Kentucky. Beat Texas A&M. Win the SEC. That’s Sarkisian’s plan and he’s sticking to it.