Texas EDGE Colin Simmons didn’t leave much room for interpretation when asked whether the Longhorns would have won the College Football Playoff if they had gotten in at 9-3 last season.
“Hell yeah, of course. If we would've made the playoffs, I definitely feel like that chip that we had on our shoulders, we would have took it, and we would've ran with it,” Simmons said on the final day of 2026 SEC Football Media Days in Tampa.
That answer carried more than confidence in Texas. It also landed as a swipe at the undefeated champion Indiana Hoosiers, even if Simmons probably wasn’t aiming it that way. More than anything, it sounded like a player who believes last year’s Longhorns had the kind of edge that could have carried them deep into January.
There’s at least some logic behind that belief. Texas closed the regular season with a 27-17 Lone Star Showdown win over the Texas A&M Aggies at DKR Stadium, then carried that momentum into a 41-27 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl win over the Michigan Wolverines. From that point of view, the Longhorns looked like a team that was finding its footing at the right time.
But the full body of work told a different story. Texas stumbled to a 3-2 start, and the defense didn’t get enough done early to help Simmons pile up sacks the way the Longhorns wanted. That slow start helped sink a 9-3 season that simply didn’t measure up in a year when the Group of Six was strong and the playoff field was crowded.
The selection picture got even tighter because ESPN had Alabama positioned favorably heading into the SEC Championship Game, and the Crimson Tide survived a 28-7 loss to Georgia. Even if Alabama had been pushed out, Notre Dame was waiting next in line.
To David Hale’s credit, the question he put to Simmons was fair. A three-loss regular season team could only stay in the CFP mix if the defeats came against teams like Ohio State and Georgia. Texas did have two of those kinds of losses.
The third one was the real problem. The 25-point loss to Florida in Gainesville was the season-breaker, especially on a night when the Gators were coming off three straight defeats, including one at home to USF. Arch Manning had his worst game of the season in the Swamp, taking six sacks and throwing two interceptions.
That night aged even worse after Billy Napier was fired two weeks later.
Steve Sarkisian’s argument that Texas should have made the CFP despite the Florida loss, and despite the 25-point defeat to Georgia, rested on shaky ground. The more relevant question now is how this version of the Longhorns handles the pressure that comes with last year’s disappointment.
Texas has one of the most expensive rosters in the country and, on paper, maybe one of the most talented too. If this group wants to make the snub matter, it has to do it on the field this fall.
If the Longhorns repeat last season’s letdowns, the heat will land hardest on Sarkisian and Arch. And if history repeats itself, Sark may not even survive it.
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Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning both addressed the reunion publicly this week, a sign of how quickly the storyline has taken hold inside the Texas camp. For the Longhorns, it adds a personal layer to a game that usually needs no help, even with Texas still stocked at receiver and focused on the bigger picture beyond one former teammate. [Read more 🡒]