Austin, TX

3 Losses, 1 Question: Should Texas make the College Football Playoff?

Published

1 month ago

December 2, 2025

3 Losses, 1 Question: Should Texas make the College Football Playoff?

The Texas Longhorns have had a whiplash-educing season in 2025.

With a 9–3 record, it’s easy to immediately dismiss the Longhorns from any discussion about inclusion in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

But Texas closed out its regular season with a bang, taking down the previously undefeated and No. 3–ranked Texas A&M Aggies.

After that win, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian made his case for his team’s inclusion in the big dance.

“We’ve got a really good football team,” Sarkisian said. “It would be a disservice to our sport if this team’s not a playoff team when we went and scheduled that non-conference game [Ohio State]. Because if we’re a 10–2 team, that’s not a question.”

READ MORE: Longhorns dominate in 2nd half to upset Aggies, 27-17

The Case for Texas

Texas finished the regular season with three wins against teams ranked in the top ten in the AP poll. They went 2–0 with double-digit victories against their biggest rivals — both of whom are locks to make the playoffs. They also beat a Vanderbilt team that finished 10–2 and will likely have a Heisman finalist in fan-favorite quarterback Diego Pavia.

The Longhorns have shown real progression throughout the season. After dropping their first SEC game to fall to 3–2, Texas went 6–1 the rest of the way, churning through a slate in the nation’s toughest conference.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning came crashing down to earth in September after entering the year with Heisman Trophy hopes, but he has come into his own in the months since that slow start. When you can finish a “let-down year” completing 61.4% of your passes with 32 total touchdowns, you’re doing something right.

And finally, let’s piggyback on Sark’s pitch: Texas’ 9–3 record includes the best loss in all of college football this season. With every passing week of Ohio State’s 12–0 dominance, Texas’ 14–7 loss in Columbus to open the season has looked better and better. Not only is Texas the only team to stay within a possession of Ohio State — they’re the only team to lose to the Buckeyes by fewer than 18 points.

If the goal of the CFP committee is to rank the “best teams in the country” — as it states in the “voting process” section on its website — Texas certainly seems to fit that criteria.

The Case Against Texas

Texas fans (and coaches) have been quick to remind everyone that they would be a no-brainer selection for an at-large bid if they had scheduled a lowly FCS or Group-of-Five program to open the season instead of choosing to play Ohio State.

And if you’re willing to grant Texas an assumed win in a game they would’ve surely entered as 40-point favorites, then this statement is true. But be careful — don’t let hypotheticals distract you from the reality of this team.

The Ohio State loss is not what’s going to stamp the Longhorns’ ticket to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl — far from it, in fact. The 11 games after that will.

Texas had arguably the worst loss of any team still making a playoff argument, losing 29–21 to a Florida team that went on to fire its coach and finish 4–8. Remarkably, the Longhorns accounted for half of Florida’s conference wins.

The aforementioned 6–1 record they compiled after that loss looks good on paper, but it didn’t come with many style points. The Longhorns escaped Kentucky with a 16–13 overtime win (the Wildcats finished 5–7 and fired their coach) and had to overcome a 38–21 fourth-quarter deficit to get past Mississippi State (who also finished 5–7, though their head coach survived the season).

After the Longhorns finally got a respectable win at home against Vanderbilt, they had a chance to make a statement on the road against a stout Georgia team late in the year. That didn’t happen, as they were walloped 35–10.

They ended the year on a high note, picking apart A&M for their biggest victory of the season, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who watched the campaign as a whole and came away satisfied. Their talent is evident — and at times overwhelming — but the flashes of brilliance reveal just how much meat the preseason No. 1 Longhorns left on the bone.

My Final Verdict

I don’t think Texas gets in.

They certainly had a path after Friday night’s statement, but they needed some games to go their way in rivalry week. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama, Miami, Vanderbilt, Utah, and Virginia all entered the weekend with 9–2 records.

Without question, Texas has the best 9–3 record in college football. If any of those seven teams lost, Texas would’ve almost certainly surpassed them, especially with their wins over Oklahoma and Vanderbilt.

All seven of them won.

15 Power Four teams now have 10 or more wins. Even with a 9–3 record, Texas will likely be ranked ahead of the Virginias and the Utahs of the world, but still, there just aren’t enough seats left at the table for nine-win Texas.

Being the best team on paper gives the Longhorns some weight, sure. But at some point, wins have to matter when you’re deciding who is “most deserving.” Some years, nine wins will be enough for an SEC team.

2025 is simply not one of those years.

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Austin, TX

Democrats go statewide in Texas House races

Published

8 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Democrats go statewide in Texas House races

AUSTIN — For the first time in modern Texas politics, Democrats will field candidates in every one of the state’s 150 House districts.

It’s a milestone party leaders hope will boost turnout, money and organization up and down the ballot, even as Gov. Greg Abbott enters the cycle with a well-tested ground game of his own.

Democratic leaders say the move is less about flipping deeply red districts and more about expanding the electorate and forcing Republicans to defend territory they have long taken for granted.

Houston Rep. Christina Morales, the new chief of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, said a full slate of candidates creates infrastructure that can benefit statewide races, regardless of the odds in individual districts.

Campaigns that once existed only on paper now bring door-knocking, phone banking and voter registration efforts, she said.

Morales also is coordinating with national Democrats, trying to harness energy from Texas’ high-profile Senate race, marked by a bitter GOP feud.

In that primary, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston.

The Democratic Senate contest, featuring state Rep. James Talarico of Austin and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, has drawn wide voter interest and donor support.

But attention and money only go so far.

Abbott enters the cycle with a major advantage: a mature, statewide voter-mobilization network built over decades of Republican control.

“Abbott has made it his own,” said longtime GOP strategist Thomas Graham, citing sustained relationship-building at the precinct level and focus on local concerns. “Democrats are still rebuilding a statewide party. The ground game heavily favors the governor.”

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Austin, TX

Environmental experts say Texas data centers come with uncertainty

Published

20 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Environmental experts say Texas data centers come with uncertainty

article

The main switchyard at a Midlothian power plant. The federal government is sending Texas more than $60 million to strengthen the state’s power grid. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune

Texas is home to approximately 400 data centers — some currently operational, others still under construction and a number that are still in the planning stages. Experts say the boom comes with a lot of uncertainty.

Texas data center power demand

What they’re saying:

“Data centers are a relatively large power demand in a small area, something like, you know, 100 or 200 megawatts of power. That’s more than a small city or a small town would be consuming itself,” said Carey King, a research scientist with the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

Over the past year, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has received more than 200 gigawatts worth of large load interconnection requests, approximately 73% of which are from data centers. That has led to questions about whether the state’s grid is up to the task of supplying power to the facilities.

“Many of us who suffered through winter storm Uri still have PTSD over, you know, fears that the grid won’t be able to meet demand,” said Luke Metzger, the executive director of Environment Texas, a local nonprofit working to safeguard the state’s natural environment.

Question of infrastructure

That’s not the only question. King points out that there is also a question of whether all the proposed data centers will actually be built. He says if they don’t end up materializing, it could spell trouble for anyone making investment decisions based on the projections. And if infrastructure is built to accommodate the needs of projects that never come to fruition, those costs could be passed off to consumers in the form of higher rates.

Experts say these speculative data center projects have led to uncertainty around how much power will actually be needed to meet the demands of the state’s data centers.

Senate Bill 6, which was signed into law last June, outlined new requirements for data center projects, including stipulating that data centers put up more capital up front for things like transmission studies and interconnection fees. The bill is, in part, intended to reduce some of that uncertainty around speculative power loads.

Potential environmental impact

But concerns still remain around the potential environmental impact of the state’s data centers.

“There are an estimated 130 new gas-powered power plants that have been proposed for Texas, in part to meet this demand for data centers, and if they’re all built, that’s going to have as much climate pollution as 27 million cars,” said Metzger.

Above all, Metzger says the biggest uncertainty is water, as there is no central entity in the state that collects and compiles information on those needs.

On average, a single data center consumes millions of gallons of water annually, according to researchers with the University of Michigan. Metzger says that’s of particular concern here in Texas, where water supply is already being pushed to its limits.

“Texas is a very drought-prone state, and already, you know, you know, according to the Water Development Board, you know, we don’t have enough supply to meet demand,” said Metzger. “There is no way to make more water. And so, I think ultimately, you know that that could be the greatest concern for the state.”

Over the past year, residents across Central Texas have spoken out about data centers in places like Round Rock and Taylor, citing additional concerns including falling property values, noise, and health impacts.

What’s next:

Moving forward, experts recommend that local leaders undergo long-range planning to determine whether they’re able to allocate limited resources to data centers in the long run prior to approving these projects.

The Source: Information in this article comes from FOX 7 interviews with experts.

TexasTechnologyEnvironment

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Austin, TX

Silver Alert issued for missing 73-year-old man in Austin

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Silver Alert issued for missing 73-year-old man in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety has issued a Silver Alert for an elderly man who has been missing since Friday afternoon in Austin.

The Austin Police Department is looking for Charles Evans, a 73-year-old man diagnosed with a cognitive impairment. Evans was last seen at 5:37 p.m. on Jan. 9 in Austin.

Silver Alert issued for missing 73-year-old man in Austin

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Police describe him as a 6’3″ tall white male, weighing 225 pounds, has gray hair, hazel eyes, and who uses a walker.

Law enforcement officials believe his disappearance poses a credible threat to his health and safety.

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-5000.

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