2008 Texas Longhorns Football Team - Rankings and Championship Possibilities

Rankings and Championship Possibilities

See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking Movement
Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Final
AP 11 10 8 7 7 5 5 1 1 1 5 4 4 4 3 3 4
Coaches' 10 9 8 7 7 5 5 1 1 1 7 5 4 4 3 3 3
Harris Not released 5 5 1 1 1 6 4 4 4 4 3
BCS* Not released 1 1 4 3 3 2 3 3

The BCS does not have an end-of-season ranking. It exists only to match up the top-two teams in a Bowl Game, and declares the winner of that team the BCS National Championship.

In order to have played in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game at the end of the 2008 season, Texas would have needed to have been ranked #1 or #2 in the final BCS rankings of the season. Texas rose to first place in the BCS rankings following their win over Missouri. They held that position for two weeks before losing to Texas Tech and dropping to fourth. The loss to Texas Tech on November 1 left the Longhorns dependent on the play of other teams to determine UT's fate for the season. Texas won the rest of their games, but so did Oklahoma. Texas Tech's only regular season loss was to Oklahoma. Because the three teams finished in a three-way tie, the final BCS poll of the season served as the tie-breaker.

In the November 9 BCS rankings the Longhorns rose to third place due to a loss by Penn State, who had been in third place. Alabama was in the top position, Texas Tech was second, Florida fourth, and Oklahoma fifth. The following weekend, Alabama, Texas, and Florida won while Texas Tech and Oklahoma did not play. The top five rankings remained unchanged except that Texas switched places with Oklahoma in the Coaches' Poll, moving up to fourth place.

When Texas only had its final game of the regular season, against Texas A&M, Texas Tech had two games remaining: against Oklahoma and Baylor. Besides Tech, Oklahoma still had a game pending against Oklahoma State. Alabama still faced Auburn and then the 2008 SEC Championship Game against Florida. Florida faced The Citadel prior to meeting Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. That left a variety of scenarios possible for Texas' championship hopes, provided they won against A&M.

However, Texas could have played for the national championship without winning the Big 12 Conference or even the Big 12 South Division. This was possible because the BCS rules do not require a team to win their conference to play for the championship; the rules only require the team to be in one of the top two spots in the final rankings. A similar occurrence happened in the 2001 season and the 2003 season. In 2001, Nebraska did not play in the Big 12 Championship but went on to play for the national title. In 2003, the Sooners entered Big 12 Conference Championship ranked number one in the BCS rankings, but lost to Kansas State. They only to second place and went on to the BCS championship.

Read more about this topic:  2008 Texas Longhorns Football Team