The days of multiple losses and not qualifying for the college football playoffs are long gone. The Texas Longhorns have a near-perfect schedule for the 2024 college football season. Here are the reasons why and how it will help them get into the playoffs, even if they lose two or even three games.
No. 1: Texas Longhorns strength of schedule
According to various publications, multiple teams in the SEC have arguably one of the ten most demanding schedules. Texas is different from teams like Florida, which has a schedule so hard that going 10-2 would be difficult.
On the other hand, the Longhorns have a top-50, and its strength shows that it is neither easy nor difficult. Most publications have Texas ranked among the 134 FBS teams between the 50th and 40th most challenging football schedule for the 2024 season.
No. 2: Balanced non-conference schedule
Reason number two is a very well-balanced non-conference schedule. The Longhorns play Colorado State at home, which is a team in the Mountain West conference. They are predicted to finish in the top five of their conference and go to a bowl game this season, and they are a team that the Longshorns should defeat at home, but it also looks like a decent win for their resume as well.
Texas then travels to play Michigan, the defending national champions, in week two. Unlike last season, the Wolverines lost a ton of talent to the NFL draft, and the Longhorns should be able to get the road victory and boost their playoff resume with a win on the road against the current No. 9-ranked Michigan Wolverines.
The Longhorns then host UTSA, who in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll is predicted to finish in second place and even received four first-place votes. ESPN’s power index has them finishing in first place and thus possibly getting the 12th seed in the college football playoffs this season. However, Texas should win this game at home and it may even look better on their resume for the CFP than their win against CSU.
The last non-conference game is against the UL Monroe Warhawks from the Sun Belt conference. This should be a very easy game for the Longhorns to win, where you may see Arch Manning play more than a half of football and see some of the backups and even third stringers get some significant playing time before Texas enters their SEC conference slate of games.
No. 3: Fair conference schedule
The SEC did the Longhorns somewhat of a favor by not giving them difficult road games. Yes, they do play Oklahoma, as they are always on a neutral field and yes, they play at Texas A&M but there road games are at Arkansas and Vanderbilt, which are very winnable games. The Longhorns as it stands now, will play three teams annually in conference play. Those three conference rivals are the Aggies, the Razorbacks, and the Sooners.
Overall, their conference schedule is considered easier than the majority of SEC teams. CBSSports for example has the the Longhorns schedule as the No. 14 ranked schedule in terms of strength of schedule. SI.com also has the Longhorn’s conference schedule ranked No. 14 as well. The CFP committee will not punish the Texas for their conference schedule being less difficult than other teams as the Longhorns have little control over their confernce schedule.
Texas’s highest ranked opponent on their schedule, No. 1 Georgia, they play at home. Their other conference opponents they play at home, Kentucky, Florida, and Mississippi State should result in wins for Texas.
The Longhorns play four top 20 ranked teams, seven home games, and four true road games. Their bye weeks comes between the Mississippi State and Oklahoma games and again between the Vanderbilt and Florida games.
The rigorous, but fair, schedule this season provides Texas with opportunities to demonstrate its worth and earn a spot in the College Football Playoffs. Their success will be determined by their ability to perform well on the field and overcome challenges. Their schedule is near perfect for the objective to make it to the 12 team college football playoffs this season as many are projecting that they will make.