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Texas Makes Major Announcement Ahead of CFP Showdown With Clemson

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Dible | Last updated Dec 18, 2024 6:06 PM ET

The University of Texas will open the first round of the College Football Playoff against the Clemson Tigers on Saturday, Dec. 21, and the the Longhorns will have at least one gigantic advantage.

While the 12-team format will allow for traditional neutral site bowl games to keep their places in the sport as part of the playoff rotation, the first round of contests will be hosted by the higher seeds.

The top four seeds earn byes to the Round of 8, which Texas missed out on narrowly after losing to Georgia by a score of 22-19 in overtime of the SEC Championship Game a little less than two weeks ago. Because of that, the Longhorns (11-2, with both losses coming to Georgia) are the No. 5 seed and the top-ranked team that must play a game in Round 1.

But the program will get to do so in Austin at the Darrel K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in front of a sold out home crowd. The university made the announcement that all the tickets were gone via an X post on Wednesday night.

one more time in DKR-TMS

️ https://t.co/LrUzHT6zla #HookEm pic.twitter.com/2NlJOu1XE4
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) December 18, 2024

"One more time in DKR-TMS ," Texas wrote.

Texas is expected to beat Clemson handily based on the oddsmakers' projections, entering Wednesday evening as 12-point home favorite over the ACC Champion Tigers. The line opened at 10.5 points and has climbed 1.5 points since, likely due to the majority of money wagered coming in on Texas to cover the double-digit spread.

Should the Longhorns hold court, they will move on to the Round of 8 and square off against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl on New Year's Day.

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

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