Finebaum Says Texas Is 'One of the 12 Best Teams in the Country' — and Could Reach the Playoff at 9-3
SEC analyst Paul Finebaum argues the Longhorns' playoff path survives a third loss: beat Mississippi State and Missouri, and even a defeat at LSU on November 14 would leave Texas, in his words, among the dozen best teams in the country.
The Texas Longhorns' playoff case got an unlikely defense this week from SEC analyst Paul Finebaum, who argued that the Longhorns belong in the 12-team field even if they lose a third game. 'I think Texas is one of the 12 best teams in the country,' Finebaum said, 'whether they lose two games or three games,' according to Roundtable's report.
Finebaum's math runs through Baton Rouge. Texas must first take care of Mississippi State on Saturday in Austin and Missouri the following week, which would put the Longhorns at 7-2 heading into the November 14 showdown at LSU, the report said. 'That LSU game, though, is really where it's going to come to a head,' Finebaum said. 'And right now, I would pick LSU to win that game. That's why I'm using the nine-and-three metric. But you have to measure that against what is going on around college football.'
What is going on around college football is chaos, and it is the core of his argument. Since Texas's second loss of the season, Georgia, Indiana, Notre Dame, Texas Tech and BYU have all lost their first games, and Alabama and Tennessee have lost their second, according to the report; seven SEC teams already carry two losses before Halloween, leaving the race for the postseason dozen wide open.
The path is not cost-free. Texas will play it without star left tackle Trevor Goosby, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last weekend against Ole Miss, the report said. The Longhorns have also played long stretches that looked nothing like a champion — the report points to the second-half collapse against unranked Florida and to head coach Steve Sarkisian's risk-reward play-calling — alongside flashes, a 21-0 fourth quarter against Ohio State and a 21-3 first half against Ole Miss, that suggest the ceiling Finebaum is betting on.
