Texas Must Root for Upsets Saturday With College Football Playoff Berth at Stake
Here’s a guide to the Longhorns’ rooting interests in Saturday’s three big remaining conference championship games.
Texas did everything it could to secure a College Football Playoff berth at Saturday’s Big 12 championship game, scoring a dominant 49–21 win over Oklahoma State. The Longhorns, who entered the weekend No. 7 in the CFP rankings, improve to 12–1 on the season with a conference title belt to their credit.
Of course, Steve Sarkisian’s team does not control its own Playoff destiny. Although the 28-point victory should impress the selection committee, Texas could use some mayhem in the three remaining Power 5 conference title matchups.
No. 3 Washington almost certainly has locked up a Playoff berth, moving to 13–0 with a second win over No. 5 Oregon in Friday’s Pac-12 championship game.
The other three seeds remain very much up in the air, with four of the teams participating in Saturday’s ACC, Big Ten and SEC championship games being very much alive for CFP bids, and No. 6 Ohio State waiting in the wings.
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With that in mind, fans of the Longhorns should be rooting for underdogs the rest of the way on Saturday:
No. 8 Alabama over No. 1 Georgia, SEC championship, 4 p.m. ET
Texas’s biggest win of the season came all the way back on Sept. 9, when the Longhorns handled Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide, 34–24, in Tuscaloosa. The Longhorns outgained the Tide by nearly 100 yards, and Saban followed up the game by somewhat quixotically benching quarterback Jalen Milroe the following week against South Florida.
The win gives Texas a serious trump card if Alabama wins on Saturday, though things would get messy in that scenario. Georgia still could land a bid at 12–1, but leaving out a one-loss Texas team with a double-digit win over the SEC champion in favor of two SEC squads would be a tough move for the selection committee to justify.
No. 14 Louisville over No. 4 Florida State, ACC championship, 8 p.m. ET
The Cardinals could solve the biggest conundrum for both Texas and the Playoff selection committee on Saturday night. Florida State is 12–0 and would be extremely difficult to snub with an ACC championship and undefeated record. However, the Seminoles will be playing either backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker, who will be a game-time decision due to injury, or third-string freshman Brock Glenn under center. Star quarterback Jordan Travis is out for the season with a leg injury suffered on Nov. 18 against North Alabama.
Louisville knocked itself out of long-shot CFP contention with an upset loss to rival Kentucky last week. The Cardinals are talented though, and they enter Saturday’s game as mere 1.5-point underdogs. A loss likely would eliminate the short-handed Seminoles.
No. 16 Iowa over No. 2 Michigan, Big Ten championship, 8 p.m. ET
Three of the analysts at ESPN’s College GameDay believe the Hawkeyes can do it … well, sort of. Iowa is a 21.5-point underdog, a point total that Kirk Ferentz’s woeful offense has itself exceeded just four times on the year.
There’s no guarantee this result would eliminate Michigan from contention. Like Georgia, the Wolverines have accrued plenty of on-field goodwill this season, especially after a strong win over Ohio State last week. The result certainly can’t hurt the Longhorns though, as unlikely as it seems.
The four College Football Playoff teams will be revealed on ESPN at 12:15 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon.