The College Football Playoff bracket is set as 12 teams begin a path that ends with two meeting in the championship Jan. 20, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Texas football could not secure a first-round bye because the Longhorns lost 22-19 to Georgia in the SEC championship. Since the Longhorns must play in the CFP first round, the path to Atlanta could be longer than others.
If Texas beats Clemson Saturday at 3 p.m. in Royal-Memorial Stadium, it will face Big 12 winner Arizona State who is coming off a three weeks rest, in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Day. The winner will play a semifinal Jan. 10 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas with a chance to head to the national title game on Jan. 20, 2025.
BUY TICKETS TO TEXAS VS CLEMSON
Because the bracket for the CFP is bigger than last year’s four-team playoff, staff members of the Austin American-Statesman filled out their own.
Are any writers picking Texas to win it all? Or Georgia, which secured the highest seed of any SEC team? Or what about Oregon, the top seed overall?
Here is who each staff member picked:
Zoe Collins Rath
Oregon knows how to dominate teams and close out during tight games. One of the Big Ten’s latest additions took the conference by storm and showed a different standard of football that other teams are trying to reach.
A top defense brings wins, but a great quarterback (who may feel scorned after not winning the Heisman Trophy) will bring the Ducks a championship.
Danny Davis
If I filled out this bracket yesterday, I may have picked Ohio State. If I fill out this bracket tomorrow, I may go with Texas.
All I know is that my champion is coming out of the top half of the CFP bracket, and I’m riding with the Ducks on Tuesday. Led by Dillon Gabriel and a top-15 defense, the Ducks survived the gauntlet that is the Big Ten and I think that first-round bye will be beneficial to their championship run.
David Eckert
If I were Texas, I’d certainly love to have Georgia’s path to the national championship, which could include comparatively tame matchups with Notre Dame and Penn State. That side of the bracket looks ripe for chaos.
The Longhorns, mean, while, will probably have to go through old enemy Dillon Gabriel to get to the title game. Oregon looks like the most complete team in the country.
Cedric Golden
The Texas Longhorns are plenty good enough to make a run in the inaugural 12-team playoff and they will give the home folks a charge with a big win over Clemson in the opener.
Cinderella Big 12 member Arizona State will provide a stiff challenge in Atlanta but the Horns will be up to the challenge but it will come to an end when the top-seed Oregon Ducks prove to be too much in hostile territory at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium.
Oregon has been the most consistent team in the country all year and quarterback Dillon Gabriel is among the most consistent signal-callers. Look out for Notre Dame if newly paid coach Marcus Freeman can figure out a way to take out in-state rival Indiana in the opener in South Bend.
They have a nice path to the title, especially if potential second-round opponent Georgia is less than potent with quarterback Carson Beck’s elbow injury
Thomas Jones
Forget whatever weirdness happens between Michigan and Ohio State. Sure, the Wolverines apparently have a permanent lease inside the Buckeye helmets, but Ohio State still looks like the most complete team in the country.
Will Howard has veteran moxie at quarterback, the Buckeyes have a roster laden with NFL talent, and a 32-31 loss at Oregon early in the year should provide plenty of motivation in case of a rematch.
Texas also boasts an incredibly balanced roster that can beat you in a lot of ways, but the Longhorns just raise too many red flags. Red-zone issues, a knack for untimely penalties, giveaways, special-teams concerns: These are the things that get you beat in a tight game against a fellow powerhouse.
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: College Football Playoff bracket: Full prediction for 2024
