AUSTIN -- The first College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday and the Texas Longhorns slid in at No. 5 while earning the No. 6 seed in the projected 12-team bracket.
Texas sits at 7-1 headed into Saturday's matchup with the Florida Gators but many have questioned whether or not the Longhorns have put together an impressive enough resume at this point in the season considering the level of competition they've played. One could argue that Texas' best win came on the road against then-No. 25 Vanderbilt on Oct. 26 after the team failed to secure a potential resume-defining victory in the 30-15 loss to Georgia a week prior. However, the Commodores were left out of the initial CFP rankings.
During a teleconference Tuesday evening, CFP Selection Committee chair Warde Manuel was asked about Texas' legitimacy as the No. 5 team in the rankings when taking into account the "eye test" and the Longhorns' lack of quality wins.
"Well, I think Texas has looked good all year in terms of how they have played," Manuel said. "They have won on the road at Michigan and went to Vanderbilt and won. As we've seen, Vanderbilt is a very good team this year. Their only loss at home was to No. 3 Georgia. We don't look at it as being fragile or not. We are going to judge each week with a clean sheet and approach it, and we look forward to watching how Texas plays as the season progresses."
The Longhorns took down then-No. 10 Michigan 31-12 in Ann Arbor on Sept. 7, a win that, at the time, was seen as a resume-boosting victory over the defending national champions. Since then, the Wolverines (5-4) have shown that they're not the team they were last season. Texas proceeded to easily handle then-No. 18 Oklahoma 34-3 on Oct. 19 for another win over a ranked opponent, but the Sooners have stumbled their way to a 1-4 record in SEC play and are now fighting for bowl contention with three games left this season.
If the Longhorns win out, they'll lock up a spot in the CFP, with or without a SEC Championship berth. But considering Texas' recent inconsistencies, there's certainly a debate to be had about the team's legitimacy as a national contender as the inaugural 12-team Playoff draws closer.
No. 5 Texas and Florida will kick off from Austin on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.
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