For the first time ever, Texas football is going to the College Football Playoff. As the No. 3 team, Texas will face No. 2 Washington in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day, a rematch of last year’s Alamo Bowl.

The Longhorns started the season at No. 11 in the AP Poll and after starting the season 5–0 and completing the nearly impossible feat of beating No. 3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Texas shot up to No. 4. 

Texas started the season by dominating every opponent it saw, defeating Rice 37-10, No. 3 Alabama 34-24, Wyoming 31-10, Baylor 38-6 and No. 24 Kansas 40-14. The perfect start was the school’s best since the 2009 season when it last played for a national championship. After two dominant Big 12 wins to start conference play, Texas moved up to its highest ranking of No. 3. 

As usual, the first weekend of October, Texas hit the road for Dallas to face No. 12 Oklahoma in the annual Red River Rivalry. Five of the last six games have been decided by one score and this year was no different. Texas lost its first game, falling 34-30 to the Sooners and dropping out of the top five to No. 8 in the rankings. 

Following the loss, Texas began to struggle and sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers took a hard hit and left the game with a shoulder injury against Houston. Texas kept winning, but not as dominantly, only beating Houston 31-24, BYU 35-6, No. 23 Kansas State 33-30 (OT), TCU 29-26 and Iowa State 26-16.

In its final home game, Texas clinched its spot in the Big 12 Championship game with a 57-7 unraveling of Texas Tech. 

On Saturday afternoon in the Big 12 Championship game, Texas did the same to No. 18 Oklahoma State winning 49-21 and becoming conference champions for the first time since 2009. 

“The past 24 hours has been a lot of highs around here,” Sarkisian said. “The cherry on top is an opportunity to go compete for national championships to get into the playoffs, and I think our guys have earned it. They’ve had a great season. I think we’re playing our best football right now at the right time.”