Multiple Texas players talked extensively about watching college football last weekend. While announcers and pundits talked extensively about Oregon, Georgia and Ohio State, there wasn’t much said about Texas.

Now, the fifth-ranked Longhorns were off last weekend. Out of sight, out of mind? Maybe.

Tuesday night’s first College Football Playoff rankings is a chance for the Horns to see where they stand with the most important people in college football — the CFP selection committee.

“I mean, everybody has their own opinion,” defensive back Jahdae Barron said. “And if they forgot about us, if you forgot about us, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. We’re being enamored with us, and we’re only worrying about ourselves right now.

“So we’re just growing and we’re on a on a journey right now as a culture and as a brotherhood, and that’s what we're doing right now.”

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CFP projections, which are meaningless, have the Horns anywhere from fifth to seventh. That feels about right and matches what’s happening in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Undefeated Miami (9-0) should be ahead of Texas. Tennessee (7-1), red-hot Indiana (9-0) and BYU (8-0) are also in the mix for top-10 consideration. At this point, nothing is set in stone and there is plenty of football remaining.

If Texas wins the SEC, it’s all but guaranteed the Horns will land a top-four ranking in the final allotment and draw a first-round bye. That holds true for any SEC team, really. The CFP selection committee is not going to exclude a one-loss SEC champion from the top four. Arguing otherwise is not grounded in college football reality in 2024.

But if you can’t win the SEC, the next best option is to lose the championship and host a first-round game at Royal-Memorial Stadium as a No. 5 seed. If the CFP standings copy the AP Top 25, Texas would host Boise State in what is essentially the CFP equivalent of the Sweet 16 round.

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The Longhorns simply can’t afford to read too much into anything the committee says Tuesday night. Or next week. Or the week after that, frankly.

All they should be focused on is winning. Period. Beat Florida, then Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas A&M and it’ll all work itself out fine.

“You have to look at it like that. You have to look at it singular,” Barron said. “Because if you don't, you trying to look down the road when you have opportunity in front of you, that’s when you slip up and then you won’t be thinking about nothing.

“So, I mean, right now, we’re worried about Florida right now, and that’s what’s in front of us. We have to give Florida the full respect. They were just in a neck-and-neck game with Georgia. So we have to give them full respect that they deserve, and we have to go out there and play our game.”