Greg McElroy forecasts Oklahoma, Texas College Football Playoff fortunes after second rankings

For the second straight week, the SEC’s Red River clubs come in right next to each other in the College Football Playoff rankings. Texas and Oklahoma both moved up a spot to No. 10 and No. 11, respectively. A testament to the resumes they have built to this point in the season.

Tests are about to pop up on the schedule, beginning this week. Texas heads to Athens to face Georgia, while Alabama hosts Oklahoma in Bryant-Denny Stadium. ESPN’s Greg McElroy decided to set the stage for what could come for the two, specifically the Longhorns.

“I think both SEC teams here, Texas and Oklahoma, have to feel great about where they’re at right now,” McElroy said. “Texas, especially. Knowing you get two big opportunities in the next couple weeks. They’ll go and play against Georgia this week on the road and then they’ll welcome the top-three team, at worst, the Aggies, to their place on Black Friday.

“So, Texas with plenty of firepower to vault up. Maybe not in the SEC Championship race — if they win out, they can get there. But to host a home Playoff game by being ranked five through eight.”

To McElroy’s point, you have to imagine both teams control their own destiny. Wins over the weekend might put Texas and Oklahoma into conversations about earning one of the top-four seeds. Wins over Georgia and Alabama would be viewed quite well by the committee, especially on the road.

Rece Davis then chimed in, laying out a scenario where Texas might be able to get into the 12-team field, even with a loss. Two weeks after the Georgia game, another top-five team in Texas A&M is in Austin. Davis sees a world where Steve Sarkisian‘s team has a case at 9-3.

“Long way to go,” Davis said. “Texas splits those two games and plays well, they’re going to have a good at-large case despite having three losses. Still long way to go before everyone gets upset about that.”

Possibly the one downfall for Texas — the loss earlier in the season to Florida. Billy Napier was still the team’s head coach but overall, not a great result.

Of course, these are mainly just hypotheticals right now. Talking about winning on the road against elite teams is a whole lot easier than going out there and executing. Neither Texas nor Oklahoma is currently favored to pull the feat off.