Just one weekend ago, Texas was ranked No. 19 and fighting to keep its season from spiraling out of control.
A win over Ole Miss, paired with another chaotic weekend in the college football world, has dramatically changed the picture.
The Longhorns climbed eight spots to No. 11 in Sunday's AP Top 25 poll following their 34-27 win over then-No. 7 Ole Miss, marking the biggest jump of any team in this week’s poll.
And Texas wasn’t the only one making national headlines.
Five ranked teams fell to unranked opponents on Saturday, including two top-10 teams, shaking up the rankings and potentially opening the door for a handful of playoff hopefuls.
Upsets Shake Up The Rankings
The biggest surprise came in Orlando, where No. 2 BYU suffered its first loss of the season after a statement win against Notre Dame a week ago, falling 39-31 to UCF in double overtime.
The Cougars dropped six spots to No. 8.
They weren’t the only Big 12 team to take a plunge in the rankings. No. 8 Texas Tech also suffered its first defeat of the season, losing 37-24 at Cincinnati and sliding to No. 13.
Elsewhere, the SEC continued to be one of the most volatile conferences in college football as No. 11 Tennessee lost 27-24 to South Carolina and fell to No. 16.
Two other ranked teams fell out of the poll entirely as No. 15 Iowa and No. 16 USC both suffered losses.
While Miami held its spot atop the rankings, Ohio State moved to No. 2. Meanwhile, Kentucky and Alabama have now found themselves in the top 10, ranked No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.
What It Means For Texas
Texas entered Saturday with the possibility of suffering its third consecutive loss and a playoff conversation that might have ended before November.
Instead, the Longhorns are 5–2 overall and 2–2 in the SEC, with three wins over teams currently ranked in the top 16, including No. 2 Ohio State.
No matter how you cut it, that’s an impressive resume, even if losses to Oklahoma and Florida leave little room for another setback — and hey, with the current way things are shaping out, a three-loss SEC team isn’t necessarily out of the playoff picture.
Although Saturday’s win gave Texas a promising playoff outlook, the Longhorns’ path to the SEC Championship Game still remains complicated.
Even if the Longhorns win out the rest of their season, finishing 7–2 in conference play, a trip to Atlanta is far from guaranteed. Kentucky and Georgia each have the opportunity to finish with just one SEC loss, meaning Texas will need some help elsewhere in the conference.
Still, Saturday’s victory over Ole Miss, along with an earlier win against Tennessee, could prove crucial if the SEC title race comes down to a tiebreaker. Georgia still has to travel to Ole Miss in two weeks, while Kentucky’s got a trip to Knoxville scheduled for the same week.
But Texas’ schedule doesn’t offer much room for relief.
Mississippi State should be the easiest game left on Texas’ schedule, especially considering Bulldogs quarterback Kamario Taylor’s current status. But if there’s anything the Longhorns have learned this season, it’s that you can never count your chickens before they hatch.
The Longhorns then travel to Missouri — another matchup with tiebreaker potential as Kentucky is slated to play them later this season — before going to Death Valley to take on LSU.
For now, the Longhorns have worked their way back into the national conversation. Their playoff hopes are as alive as they’ve been in weeks, but getting back into the picture is one thing.
Staying there is another.
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