Texas found a way to improve its College Football Playoff standing by doing nothing over the weekend.

While multiple top-25 teams were losing, the Longhorns were idle, gearing up for the regular season’s homestretch. That four-game run begins Saturday against the Florida Gators at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

But Texas (7-1, 3-1 SEC) moved up one spot to No. 5 in Sunday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll as a bevy of upsets roiled most of the poll.

Of more importance, the first College Football Playoff rankings are unveiled Tuesday. That will be a better gauge of Texas’ postseason standing with a month left in the regular season.

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According to the CFP website, the selection committee follows a set of principles when making their determinations: strength of schedule, head-to-head results, comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incentivizing margin of victory) and “other relevant factors” such as injuries that can affect a team’s performance.

The committee does not have to explain itself in detail. Whatever the committee decides is what it decides. That’s why coaches don’t spend too much time worrying about it early in November; they want to just keep winning football games.

Winning cures all when it comes to CFP wackiness.

The new 12-team playoff format will help alleviate some stress in the system. A team that would have been fourth in the old format — right on the cutline — will fit in comfortably in the 12-team structure. Teams ranked fifth through eighth will also get to host first-round games.

The Longhorns are obviously planning on winning the SEC. Only conference champions can get one of the first four spots and an automatic first-round bye. However, the UT ticket office has already started contacting season ticket holders and building waitlists if the Horns have to host one of those first-round games.

Don’t expect Texas coach Steve Sarkisian to spend a lot of time talking about the AP Top 25 or the CFP rankings this week. He’ll be laser-focused on the Gators, a team likely starting a third-string quarterback this week after DJ Lagway’s hamstring injury suffered over the weekend.