Voters in the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 had a grapple with a question this weekend — do the two-loss Texas Longhorns deserve to be ranked ahead of the two-loss Ohio State Buckeyes after the Longhorns overcame a 20-point deficit to beat the Buckeyes in Austin earlier this year?
Both polls settled on that question differently, with AP voters moving Texas from No. 11 to No. 10, ahead of Ohio State after Ryan Day’s program was upset by USC in Los Angeles, 30-18, and the coaches chose to keep the Horns at No. 11, dropping the Buckeyes only as far as No. 10.
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It’s another indication of how little head-to-head matchups matter in the polls, which could continue to hold true on Tuesday when the College Football Playoff committee releases its first set of rankings.
The coaches likely weighed the Longhorns dropping two games to unranked opponents, including one at home, more heavily than the Buckeyes losing two road games. There’s also Ohio State’s win over Indiana, currently at No. 3 in the Coaches Poll, although Texas also has wins over Tennessee and Ole Miss in its favor.
Ultimately, what matters more is that the Horns project as one of the last teams in the playoff field or one of the first teams out. In either case, Texas has control over its own destiny with ranked opponents looming on the road over the next two weeks — No. 19 Missouri and No. 15 LSU.
