Well, here we go again. Paul Finebaum is doing mental gymnastics trying to argue that Texas deserves a spot in the College Football Playoff. After the Longhorns knocked off a flat Texas A&M squad to get to 9-3, Finebaum wasted no time jumping to their defense, saying Texas should still be in the mix despite a resume that doesn’t hold up under actual scrutiny.
Sure, Texas has losses to No. 1 Ohio State and No. 4 Georgia. Nobody’s holding that against them. But the third one is where this whole thing falls apart. They lost to Florida, and not a good version of Florida. A 5-7 Florida team that just fired its head coach after sleepwalking through most of the season. That loss alone should be enough to take them out of the running, but Finebaum is doubling down like it’s 2010 and the SEC still gets free passes for existing.
It’s not just that Texas lost to Florida. It’s how it happened. The Gators were coming off a three-game losing streak, their fanbase was checked out, and their coach was hanging on by a thread. Texas walked in and laid an egg. No energy, no execution, and no excuse. That’s not a playoff team, no matter how nice the logo looks on a helmet.
There’s also the fact that the Longhorns won’t even play in the SEC title game. Some combination of Georgia, Ole Miss, and Alabama will take the field for the championship game. If the idea of the Playoff is to reward teams that prove it on the field, Texas didn’t do that. They didn’t win their league. They didn’t beat the top teams on their schedule. And they definitely didn’t avoid a disastrous loss.
Finebaum can push the narrative all he wants, but there are other teams with cleaner resumes and better wins. If a three-loss team is getting in, it won’t be the one that lost to a team that just cleaned house and missed a bowl game.
Texas is a good team, and when they’re playing well, they look the part. But this isn’t about potential. It’s about results. And no amount of SEC spin should be enough to cover up that ugly loss in Gainesville.
