Why Conference Championship Weekend Went Exactly the Way Texas Needed It To

Saturday’s conference championship slate has left the very slim possibility open for the Texas Longhorns to slide into the College Football Playoff.

The Big 12 and Southeastern Conference championship games are now complete, with the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Georgia Bulldogs expected to clinch byes and rest ahead of their playoff games.

At 9-3, Texas is on the outside looking in, and seems more than likely to stay there. But, here is what those two results may mean for a Longhorn team that still has a chance to earn the favorability of the CFP committee:

BYU falls to Texas Tech

Entering Saturday, the BYU Cougars’ sole loss of the season had come to Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Cougars suffered a beatdown at the hands of the Red Raiders on Nov. 8, failing to score until over halfway through the fourth quarter.

In the Big 12 Championship game, it was a very similar story. BYU entered AT&T Stadium controlling their own destiny, with “win and in” expectations on the line. The Cougars got on the board first behind a 14-play, 90-yard drive in the first quarter. But after that, they were held silent.

Texas Tech scored 34 unanswered points and forced four turnovers off the BYU offense to emerge with an emphatic victory. For BYU, this likely means that its postseason chances have run their course. Against the only playoff-caliber opponent it has faced this season, BYU fell in lopsided fashion not once, but twice.

The question remains, “How much does the conference championship slate impact the playoff seeding?” Still, for a Cougars team that was on the bubble before Saturday, its second loss to the Red Raiders means other teams awaiting their playoff fate seem to have the upper hand.

Alabama falls to Georgia

With the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 28-7 loss to the Bulldogs, there is a conversation to be had about who should be the fifth SEC team in the playoff. Georgia, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Oklahoma are locked into spots.

Alabama now sits with the same amount of losses as Texas. Does that change anything for the committee? Again, can Alabama be penalized — meaning lose its place in the playoff — due to a conference championship loss?

The Crimson Tide’s top win on its resume entering Saturday was over Georgia. After the SEC Championship defeat, Alabama has fallen to the Bulldogs and Oklahoma. The season-opening loss to Florida State continues to stand out even more.

If Alabama is to be removed, the committee may see Texas as a worthy replacement, considering its victories over three top 10 teams. Miami and Notre Dame currently sit above Texas in the CFP rankings. The committee will likely look at all three of the Longhorns, Hurricanes and Fighting Irish in comparison to the Crimson Tide after the Bulldogs reversed the course of the previous matchup.

The games that remain

The Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference Championships are about to get underway.

Texas still holds the closest margin of defeat to the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes from the season-opening meeting in Columbus. If the Buckeyes run away with the Big Ten Championship, does that do anything for the Longhorns’ chances? If Duke beats Virginia, meaning that the ACC champion may not get into the field, does that cause the committee to view Miami differently?

Following Saturday night’s results, the committee has a lot to take into account and make what seem like impossible decisions between various qualified teams. Yet, one truth holds: the Longhorns may, somehow, still have a slim chance.