College Football Playoffs: Longhorns should love their seeding, first-round hosting duties after SEC championship
No. 5 Texas will host No. 12 Clemson at 3 p.m. on Dec. 21 at Royal-Memorial Stadium
Any Longhorns who are still down about losing the SEC championship better snap out of it. They’ve got an incredible path to the national championship.
Texas (11-2) learned Sunday it will be the No. 5 seed in the 12-team bracket, long considered the best spot for any team that didn’t win its conference title.
Texas will host No. 12 seed Clemson (10-3) at 3 p.m. on Dec. 21 at Royal-Memorial Stadium. As an added bonus, Bevo XV will be allowed in this time. Fun fact: this will be the first time Texas and Clemson have ever met in football.
ESPN's Molly McGrath tweeted that right after the matchup was announced, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney shouted, “I’m gonna meet Matthew McConaughey!”
The winner advances to meet No. 4 seed Arizona State. The Big 12 champion Sun Devils are 11-2 after knocking off the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
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This is far and away the best possible outcome for the Longhorns after losing to the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday in the SEC championship game. The Dawgs landed the No. 2 seed and earned a first-round bye. Kirby Smart’s club will await the winner of No. 6 seed Penn State and No. 11 seed SMU.
Georgia opened the season with a 34-3 win over Clemson. Swinney’s team then rolled through a light ACC schedule, beating Stanford, Florida State, Wake Forest and Virginia.
Clemson stumbled against Louisville 33-21 but then rallied to win its next three. Clemson also lost to No. 13 South Carolina in the regular-season finale.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and his coaching staff should love this draw. Texas doesn’t have to face No. 1 and undefeated Oregon until the CFP semifinals. And the Horns avoid the Dawgs, who are on the other side of the bracket.
Texas’ two losses this season came at the hands of Georgia. The Horns can’t meet the Dawgs again until both reach the CFP national championship game which is, ironically, back in Atlanta.
Sarkisian was already moving on to the CFP last night. “The competitor in us tells us we don’t have time to hang our heads,” Sarkisian said. “We don’t have time for the poor-mes.”
Saturday night, the Horns were down. Sunday, they should be flying high.
Bring on the College Football Playoffs.
