A Tale of Two Texases
Texas delivered the biggest win of Week 3, beating Ohio State and earning the No. 1 spot in the Consensus ranking.
RCFR rewarded it too.
That's exactly what a resume-based ranking should do: reward teams for playing quality opponents and beating them.
But the win also reminded us of something interesting.
And their postseason outcomes tell an important story about how college football evaluates teams.
The Tale of Two Texas Teams
2024: The Resume Didn't Match the Ranking
Texas was a strong football team in 2024.
But RCFR isn't designed to answer who looks like one of the best teams. It asks a different question:
At the end of the 2024 regular season, Texas was ranked #3 by the CFP but only #12 by RCFR.
The reason was straightforward:
Top 25 wins.
Texas had accumulated wins, but its resume lacked the quality wins RCFR values most.
The CFP still placed Texas near the very top of its rankings, and Texas made the College Football Playoff.
2025: A Completely Different Resume
One year later, the story flipped.
The 2025 Texas team built exactly the type of resume RCFR is designed to reward.
RCFR ranked Texas #3.
The CFP ranked Texas #13.
That created one of the largest differences between the two ranking systems — this time in the opposite direction from 2024.
And despite the much stronger quality resume, Texas did not make the playoff.
Same Program. Very Different Resumes.
| Season | CFP Rank | RCFR Rank | Delta | Top 25 Wins | Top 25 Games | Playoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Texas | #3 | #12 | -9 | 0 | 2 | YES |
| 2025 Texas | #13 | #3 | +10 | 3 | 5 | NO |
Both Texas teams were strong.
But their resumes were not remotely the same.
0 Top 25 wins
CFP #3
RCFR #12
Made the playoff.
3 Top 25 wins
CFP #13
RCFR #3
Missed the playoff.
Why This Matters
The contrast illustrates the fundamental difference between RCFR and traditional rankings.
RCFR doesn't begin with reputation, perception or projected team strength.
It begins with the resume.
In 2024, Texas had the better CFP ranking.
In 2025, Texas had the better quality resume.
Yet the team with zero Top 25 wins made the playoff, while the team with three Top 25 wins did not.
And Now Comes 2026
Which brings us back to this year's Texas team.
Texas just beat Ohio State in the biggest game of Week 3.
That's a quality opponent.
That's a quality win.
And that's why Texas deserves to be rewarded for it in a resume-based ranking.
The lesson from the last two Texas seasons is simple:
Quality wins matter. And the opportunity to earn those wins begins with playing a quality schedule.
Texas gives us a nearly perfect two-year case study.
In 2024, Texas had zero Top 25 wins and made the playoff. In 2025, Texas had three Top 25 wins and missed it.
Both were good football teams. But only one built the stronger quality resume.
College football should reward teams for playing better opponents and beating them.