The Texas Longhorns have been No. 1 in either the AP Top 25 or the US LBM Coaches Poll since the Michigan game. This is the first week Texas is No. 1 in both.
Now, in its weekly college football playoff projections, USA TODAY Sports has Texas as the No. 1 seed. The Horns replace the Alabama Crimson Tide, who were upset by Vanderbilt on Saturday. Bama is still in the playoff bracket according to the projections.
The Georgia Bulldogs are the only other SEC team in the playoff bracket forecast. After losing at Arkansas, the Tennessee Volunteers have dropped out. Notre Dame also jumps back into the projected bracket, recovering from an Week 2 loss to NIU.
There is still a lot of football left in the season. Texas heads to Dallas this weekend for its annual matchup with Oklahoma. Georgia visits Austin the next week.
What’s obvious through one week of October is that the SEC is going to cannibalize playoff contenders and leave multiple teams in the two-loss range by the end of the regular season. Even with conference play barely underway, there are only three SEC teams still unbeaten in league play – Texas, Texas A&M and LSU – and the Longhorns are the only one of the three without a non-conference loss.
In the end, Alabama is projected to rebound from this past weekend and finish the regular season with the record and resume to reach the playoff. — Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports
