Paul Finebaum explains why Texas should make CFP even with another loss
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Paul Finebaum didn’t give up on Texas in 2026, even when the Longhorns stumbled twice in a row against then-unranked teams to fall from the No. 1 ranking in the country.
Texas’s ranking dropped all the way to No. 19 entering Week 8, but the Longhorns got up off the canvas and got back in the win column on Saturday night with a 34-27 victory over then-No. 7 Ole Miss. It was a dramatic victory, and Texas did blow a big lead at home on national TV, but the Horns survived to get to 5-2.
The AP voters rewarded Texas on Sunday, as the Longhorns moved up 8 spots in the poll to No. 11. This Saturday in Week 9, in another home primetime game against the other Mississippi school, Texas will look to keep its momentum going against banged-up Mississippi State.
The Longhorns are a hefty favorite in the matchup, and they still have 5 more games left with 2 losses on their ledger. But that didn’t sway Finebaum during his Monday appearance on ESPN’s First Take, where he made the case that Texas should still be in the College Football Playoff even if it loses a third game this season.
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“I think Texas is one of the 12 best teams in the country, whether they lose two games or three games. … They beat Ohio State, which may be one of the two best teams in the country, at home. They also won at Tennessee, which inexplicably choked away a victory the other day, which hurts Texas. And they still have significant wins, and they had one the other night against Ole Miss, which has been a top-10 team for most of the season,” Finebaum said.
“I think (Texas) is one of the better teams in the country. They just happen to have screwed it around with that loss to Florida a couple weeks ago … but Florida may be back, that’s going to help them.”
Finebaum pointed to Texas’s upcoming matchup on Nov. 14 at LSU as a big one in terms of its Playoff hopes, but the ESPN analyst is definitely giving the Horns some leeway even if they stumble again in, say, that LSU game.
With Texas outlasting Ole Miss in Week 8, now the Longhorns turn their attention to that other Mississippi school in Week 9, with Mississippi State coming to Austin this Saturday for a primetime showdown (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about Texas’s chances to take care of business against the Bulldogs:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
