ESPN's Greg McElroy takes strong skeptical stance on Texas football in the latest College Football Playoff rankings
Updated CFP rankings have Texas slotted as the SEC champion in the No. 2 spot, earning a first-round bye
Regardless of what fans think about Texas’ schedule, the Longhorns pass the eye test with the College Football Playoff selection committee.
That was Greg McElroy’s contention, at least, after ESPN unveiled the updated CFP rankings on Tuesday night. The former Alabama quarterback and ESPN commentator doesn’t sound impressed with Texas being ranked No. 3 overall but projected to be the SEC champion.
If the season ended Tuesday, the Longhorns would be No. 3 on the CFP rankings but slotted second in the 12-team bracket and earn a first-round bye. Texas would play the winner of the Alabama-Indiana game in the 7-10 matchup.
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There’s just one catch for the Horns: there are still three regular season games left plus actually winning the SEC title.
“Texas and (No. 4) Penn State being lifted up based on, you know what they've done and in the eye test,” McElroy said on ESPN’s CFP show. “I get that. Look, I watch Texas just like the rest of us, just like the committee members. There’s seven or eight people on the committee that either played college football or coached college football, so they’re watching the players, and I don’t blame them for being super impressed.
“The problem is the resume doesn't support a top three ranking. They are up there on eye test and ceiling. And until we see it all put together, it's tough for me to get totally on board with them being up there.”
Texas (8-1, 4-1 SEC) does not have a single win over a top-25 team, but detractors are blaming UT for something it had no control over. The SEC office made the schedule, not the Longhorns.
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Georgia now has two losses and would be the first team out despite being ranked No. 12 on Tuesday, something that sounds ludicrous on the surface. The Bulldogs were the only team to beat the Longhorns and did it in Austin. But that’s how the new format would shake out if the season ended today.
Oregon (Big Ten), Texas (SEC), BYU (Big 12) and Miami (ACC) would be the four conference champions that draw first-round byes, according to the committee.
The rest of the bracket is top-heavy with Big Ten teams. The committee expects the nation to believe that Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana are four of the top five teams, with Texas sandwiched in at No. 3? It also feels like Tennessee might be too low at No. 7.
SMU is the second team out at the moment at No. 14, and Texas A&M still controls its own destiny at No. 15.
At the moment, Texas’ best victory on paper might be Vanderbilt. But upcoming games against Arkansas, Kentucky and A&M will bolster their resume, as would a SEC championship game win over Tennessee, perhaps.
Bottom line: no reason to get worked up about all this just yet. The Horns still have lots of football left. If nothing else, these are fascinating looks into the CFP’s thinking each and every week.
