Josh Pate reveals whether CFP committee should punish Texas for Ohio State loss

If Texas beats Texas A&M on Friday, will the three-loss Longhorns be in the College Football Playoff? Or will they be left out for kicking off the season playing the defending national champions, Ohio State, and losing 14-7 during Week 1?

It’s one of the several question marks that surround the Week 14 slate in college football. To help clarify, Josh Pate joined ESPN’s Get Up! on Thanksgiving morning to discuss whether the Longhorns should be in, or out with a victory over the Aggies.

“If Texas had close competitive losses, à la Notre Dame, to a really good Ohio State on the road, but elsewhere, they had just dominated the competition, and then they beat Texas A&M at the end of the year. That would be one emphatic bullet point. That would be a pretty emphatic argument, ‘You should put us in, don’t punish us for scheduling up.'”

The Longhorns went on to win its next three non-conference games against Group of Six opponents, but lost its SEC opener against Florida on the road. That’s a massive loss for Texas, as the Gators have a 3-8 record this season.

Texas would go on to win its next four games before losing to a top-five Georgia team on the road 35-10. Despite suffering its third loss two weeks ago, the Longhorns could still be alive in the CFP. Though, Pate provided context to the four-game win streak that may be cause for concern.

“However, if you’re going to go down that road, someone’s going to come back at you with game control. They’re going to say, ‘Weren’t you down 17 on the road to Mississippi State? Didn’t you struggle mightily to beat Kentucky on the road?

“The bottom line is, Texas hasn’t salted the earth outside of those three games, to the point where I think they break benefit of the doubt threshold. So, I view Texas very much is on the outside looking in.”

With Texas being left out of the SEC Championship race heading into the final week of the regular season, Friday night is the last opportunity the Longhorns have to impress the playoff committee. Even with an upset win over 11-0 Texas A&M may not be enough to overlook the blemishes stained on their record.

Kickoff between the Longhorns and Aggies is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. ABC will air the national broadcast of the Lone Star Showdown.