As expected, the Texas Longhorns are ranked No. 5 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season. The Horns sit behind Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia and Miami in the list. Penn State, Tennessee,

College Football Playoff selection committee chairman Warde Manuel pointed toward Texas football's road wins at Michigan and Vanderbilt when explaining the committee's decision to place the Longhorns at No. 5 in the first rankings release of 2024.

The Longhorns (7-1, 3-1 in SEC) open the CFP rankings at No. 5, the highest-ranking team of the at-large bids. They slide back to the No. 6 seed, however, due to BYU projecting to take one of the top-4 conference champion slots.