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Klatt’s Clear CFP Path for Texas

**Fox Analyst Joel Klatt: Texas Longhorns’ Playoff Path Clearer Than It Seems at No. 7**

**AUSTIN, TX** – Despite landing at No. 7 in the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings released on October 31, 2023, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt believes the Texas Longhorns are in a surprisingly strong position to make the four-team playoff field. Klatt, a prominent voice in college football analysis, argues that Texas holds a clearer path to contention than many of its one-loss peers.

Klatt’s optimistic outlook for the Longhorns hinges primarily on the quality of their resume. Their sole loss of the season came against Oklahoma, a team Klatt highlighted as a significant opponent. More crucially, Texas boasts a marquee road victory over No. 9 Alabama in Tuscaloosa earlier in the season, a win that Klatt considers a massive boost to their playoff credentials.

“If Texas manages to win out and take home the Big 12 championship, they’ll absolutely be in the playoff,” Klatt asserted in his analysis for Fox Sports. He emphasized the distinct advantage Texas holds with a quality loss and a signature win compared to other contenders.

Looking at the broader playoff landscape, Klatt projects that three of the four coveted spots will likely go to undefeated or nearly undefeated powerhouses such as No. 1 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan, and No. 2 Georgia. This scenario, he explains, leaves a scramble for the fourth and final playoff berth, a spot where a Big 12 champion Texas fits perfectly.

Klatt contrasted Texas’s position with that of other one-loss contenders like No. 8 Oregon or No. 9 Alabama. For these teams, their route to the playoff would likely require multiple undefeated Power 5 teams to stumble, making their paths considerably tougher and more reliant on external factors than that of the Longhorns.

As of the initial rankings, Texas stood at 7-1, with their remaining schedule including key Big 12 matchups that will determine their fate in the conference title race. The value of their early-season victory over Alabama, a team consistently ranked in the top 10, is expected to remain a significant data point for the CFP committee throughout the season, especially if Texas continues to perform at a high level and secures the Big 12 title.

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