Texas is back -- no, really! -- and just in time for the SEC to take credit for it.
The Longhorns went into Michigan Stadium on Saturday and beat the defending national champs soundly, prompting an early exit for most of the Wolverines' student section and resulting in another critical nonconference road win that will impress the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Last year, Texas represented the Big 12 in the playoff. This year, the Longhorns have given the SEC yet another national title contender.
"I reminded the guys, we've gone into Tuscaloosa and played and won," coach Steve Sarkisian said. "We've played in a Big 12 championship game. We've played in the College Football Playoff. So none of the moments should feel too big for us anymore."
With the 31-12 win over Michigan, the Longhorns now have the best chance to win the national tile (20%), according to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, and five of the six teams with at least a 60% chance to reach the playoff are from the SEC.
Five SEC teams are featured in this week's Bubble Watch, which includes the predicted 12-team bracket, who gets first-round byes, the first four out, the next four in line and how the Group of 5 conference champions will stack up.
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Byes | First-round matchups
First four out | Next four out
Group of 5
Projected 12-team bracket
First-round byes
Note: Seeding is based on my projected top 12 from the CFP committee
No. 1 seed Georgia Bulldogs: The Bulldogs would earn the top seed as the SEC champion and the highest-ranked conference champion. This is based on Georgia also being the selection committee's No. 1 team overall on Selection Day. According to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, Georgia has the third-best chance to make the playoff (83.7%) behind Texas (90.2%) and Ohio State (83.2%). The Bulldogs will play their first SEC game Saturday at Kentucky.