AUSTIN — As a light mist started to envelop Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium in the final minute and Texas was kneeling out the final minute of a 27–17 victory over No. 3 Texas A&M, the jumbotron cameras caught a fan holding up his phone to the rest of the crowd.
On it was a simple message in literal black and white: 11–1. After entering Black Friday’s matchup undefeated and hoping to put an end to 14 years of misery in the rivalry, this is how Aggies end the regular season.
As the surprisingly raucous crowd of 103,632 fans—at least those who weren’t wearing maroon—rose to their feet in applause, it was an apt picture of the current College Football Playoff picture.
One where losses matter just as much—if not as the wins do.
The selection committee has decreed it to be so in 2025, a sharp departure from years past. It has shown the world three weeks of data in the form of its Top 25 rankings and failed to reward teams for big wins. Instead it has slapped the wrists of those who lose to teams they shouldn’t.
It’s why there is a conundrum with this year’s playoff between Miami and Notre Dame. It’s why Texas A&M entered Friday as a lock to make the field and host a first-round game (at the worst) and why both Oregon and Texas Tech will each garner the most favorable paths to a semifinal should they end the season with just a lone blemish.
Flying in the face of this evidence from the past few weeks, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian decided to cast off such misguided thinking in his team’s candidacy to make the bracket.
Forget those three losses the Longhorns picked up as they went from No. 1 in the preseason to the outer reaches of the at-large bubble.
Never mind that they lost in the Swamp to a Florida team which won’t make a bowl game or that they were blown out just last week by Georgia between the hedges to cement disappointment this season.
