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Why Texas Deserves a Spot in the College Football Playoff

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jaron Spor | Last updated Dec 2, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The 2025 college football regular season is in the books, and now teams are turning to the postseason. One team eagerly awaiting to see if it will be in the College Football Playoff is the No. 16 Texas Longhorns (9-3).

The Longhorns are coming off a major win over the No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies (11-1) in the regular season finale. Steve Sarkisian's team should take a decent leap up in the standings when they are released on Tuesday. But should they take enough of a leap to make the CFP? Let's make the case for Texas.

Texas has come on strong later in the year. The Longhorns have one of the better defenses ranking No. 37 in total defense, No. 10 in rushing yards allowed and No. 23 in scoring defense. Texas is also 3-2 in one-score games.

The defense is led by Collin Simmons, who leads the team with 13.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. The offense is led by quarterback Arch Manning, who has thrown for 2,942 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

The Longhorns also faced one of the toughest schedules in college football. They rank No. 8 in strength of schedule and No. 12 in strength of record. SOR determines the probability that an average top 25 team would achieve the same record after playing the same schedule. The Longhorns played five ranked teams this season. That includes games against the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs on the road.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning keeps the ball and runs for a touchdown.Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

One factor favoring Texas is its success in head-to-head matchups against other teams considered on or near the playoff bubble. The Longhorns achieved a 2-0 record against the No. 12 Vanderbilt Commodores (10-2) and the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners (10-2). However, Texas does have one extra loss that these two teams do not share.

The Longhorns argue that this additional loss stems from their decision to schedule a challenging game against Ohio State at the beginning of the year in the non-conference. Following their victory over the Aggies, Sarkisian emphasized, “It would be a disservice to our sport if this team is not a playoff team." The thought is that if Texas doesn't make it, it will discourage other teams from scheduling tough non-conference games.

With a résumé built on ranked wins, a top-10 strength of schedule and a marquee victory in the finale, Texas believes it has proved it belongs in the playoff conversation, extra loss or not. Now the Longhorns must wait to see whether the committee values ambition over perfection when the final rankings arrive on Sunday at noon ET on ESPN.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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