Coming out of the season’s second and final by week, the Texas Longhorns moved up to No. 10 in the second release of the College Football Playoff rankings, benefitting from a loss by the BYU Cougars to the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The handy defeat by the Red Raiders in Lubbock dropped the Cougars from No. 7 to No. 12 as Texas Tech moved from No. 8 to No. 6.
The main storyline for head coach Steve Sarkisian’s program in its quest to make a third straight playoff appearance is that the Horns remain in control
of their own destiny heading into a high-profile tilt against the No. 5 Bulldogs in Athens on Saturday.
On FanDuel, Texas is +186 to make the playoff and and -235 to miss it with home games against Arkansas and No. 3 Texas A&M looming after the regular season’s final road trip, the fourth game in the last five played away from the friendly confines of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Can the Longhorns remain in playoff contention with a loss to Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs? It’s possible, but the certainty is that Texas currently controls its own destiny despite the bad loss to Florida to Gainesville to open conference play — win and stay in.
