The first initial College Football Playoff ranking was revealed on Tuesday evening.
A total of six rankings will be released each Tuesday by the committee until Dec. 8 (Selection Day).
The Longhorns land at No. 5 overall behind Miami (No. 4), Georgia (No. 3), Ohio State (No. 2) and Oregon (No. 1). However, Texas is projected as the No. 6 seed in a 12-team playoff and slated to face Alabama in the first round.
While Steve Sarkisian's squad currently sits comfortably within the playoff field, Texas would not receive a first-round bye. With the new 12-team playoff format, only the top four teams receive a bye.
Texas has a realistic chance to jump into the top four by the conclusion of the regular season. The Longhorns are favored in each of their remaining matchups against Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas A&M.
With ranked wins over Michigan, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt on their resume, Texas has a compelling case to be one of the top one-loss teams in the nation. They could potentially add a fourth ranked win if the Longhorns and Aggies face off in a top-25 showdown to close out the regular season.
Four SEC teams were ranked in the initial College Football Playoff as a top-12 team including Alabama (No. 11), Tennessee (No. 7), Texas (No. 5) and Georgia (No. 3).
The SEC title race is shaping up to be a close one between Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Texas A&M and LSU. Texas needs to win out and hope LSU and Georgia lose one more game in order to reach the conference championship game.
After enjoying a bye last week, the Longhorns will return to action against Florida at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Nov. 9. The last meeting between the two programs took place on Dec. 7, 1940, where Texas shutout Florida 26-0.
Related: Updated ESPN FPI Projections for Texas Ahead of Week 10