Paul Finebaum: Texas' loss to Georgia will haunt them in College Football Playoff race

The Texas Longhorns went into Athens and didn’t just lose to the Georgia Bulldogs. They struggled to do much of anything right at all and ended up losing 35-10. Now, their backs are against the wall when it comes to making a push for the College Football Playoff.

Pundit Paul Finebaum took some time during his weekly appearance on The Matt Barrie Show to share his thoughts on Texas. In particular, he explained that while the Longhorns aren’t completely out of the College Football Playoff race just yet, that loss and how poorly they played, is going to haunt them in the selection committee room.

“They look completely different,” Paul Finebaum said. “I was sitting here a week ago, saying don’t laugh at Texas. They — 9-3, a win over A&M, they’re in great shape. That loss took the air out of that momentum. Two weeks from now is a long way. One of the few times I’m really curious to hear what the committee chairman, considering it’s a new committee chairman, this Tuesday. I mean, only the CFP can lose its spokesperson. It’s the game that can’t shoot straight.”

Finebaum hinted at the changes that hit the CFP selection committee recently. Baylor AD and selection committee chair Mack Rhoades is on a leave of absence from his school and, along with that, stepped down as chair last week. In his place, the CFP approved appointments of Utah athletic director Mark Harlan to the CFP selection committee and the promotion of Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek to the group’s new chair.

In the last CFP rankings, Texas was No. 10. That’s before adding a third loss and doing it in the manner they did, though. So, now, a new committee is going to be looking at Texas through a new lens and with new voices in new roles in the room. What that amounts to won’t be clear until the next rankings come out.

“It doesn’t matter because that guy actually got criticized for saying a little too much. We have a new guy in there. I think Texas has got a long shot now. Even beating A&M,” Finebaum said. “That loss to me is going to haunt them like the Oklahoma loss did to Alabama a year ago because it was so late and so bad.”

A season ago, with a different selection committee, there were multiple SEC teams that finished 9-3 and felt Playoff worthy. However, none of those teams made it to the CFP. Texas, now sitting with three losses, as to avoid a fourth loss and will have the opportunity to bolster their resume in the final weeks of the season. If that’s enough to overcome the Georgia loss remains to be seen.