Texas vs. Washington early College Football Playoff game prediction, pick

Not without some controversy, the final four-team College Football Playoff has been announced along with the two seminal game matchups. While undefeated ACC champion Florida State was not among those four teams, two other league champs will square off in the Sugar Bowl, as No. 3 Texas meets up with No. 2 Washington. The winner advances to the national championship game and a shot to play either No. 1 Michigan or No. 4 Alabama for the title.

Texas vs. Washington picks, predictions

College Football Power Index is a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times and pick winners.

Texas odds: The computers are siding strongly with the Longhorns, who have a 68.4 percent chance to win the game, winning out in 13,680 predictions.

Washington odds: That leaves the Huskies as the projected winner in the remaining 31.6 percent of sims, or 6,320 projections.

Point spread: Texas is a 4 point favorite against Washington, according to the lines at SI Sportsbook, which listed the total at 64.5 points for the game.

Score prediction? By taking each team's average scoring margins into account, Texas is projected to defeat Washington by 5.7 points, or by 6 points if we round up, enough to cover the spread.