Here it comes, what Austin has been longing to hear this season. Are the Texas Longhorns a playoff contender? If you had asked before their marquee matchup at Dallas, the Longhorns’ faithful would have averted their eyes. Beaten up badly by unranked Florida, Urban Meyer had put forth his biting take on Texas not making it to the playoffs, but week 7 flipped the narrative. Now, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt has given his take on the Longhorns’ 2025 season. And, spoiler alert, it contradicts Meyer’s stance.

Texas’ hopes nearly drowned when the Swamp beat them square and fair, 29-21. But Arch Manning was far from being done yet, as he punched right back at Oklahoma. John Mateer never found the endzone, but Manning came roaring back. A 23-6 win, and the preseason No. 1 Texas is back in the playoff conversation.

On Monday, week 7 mania seeped into the Joel Klatt show, with Klatt betting his money on Texas’ future after a much-needed victory on Saturday. “Texas, with two losses (4-2), and Oklahoma (5-1), with one loss,” he said. “I would put money if I had to on Texas making the playoff and not Oklahoma because of the balance or lack thereof and the remaining schedule.”

But following week 6 clashes, Meyer had raised an alarm for every program that faced an upset. “I’m guessing at the end of the year it’ll be [an] 8/9 win for each of these teams,’ he had said on the Triple Option. “And they’ll go to some bowl game and try to go again.”

He continued on the Red-River Rivalry. “This is going to go one of two ways. It’s not going to be medium,” Meyer said. “They’re (talking about Texas and Penn State’s future) either going to fall off the cliff, and it’s going to be an embarrassment for both places, or they’ll fight back.” And Texas did fight back. Steve Sarkisian’s CFP hopes had been dimming every passing week, but the Cotton Bowl got the derailed train back on track, and Austin is beaming with joy.

Initially, the offense appeared sluggish, but the QB made some impressive darts over 60 minutes. A TD pass to DeAndre Moore Jr for a 24-yard gain, then another one to Moore for a 12-yard TD. The offense was tilting the narrative in their favor. Arch, who was sacked six times by Florida, remained poised when the Gators pressured him against his own end zone on a third-and-7. He did not give in to the defensive pressure and threw a beautiful 21-yard dart to Parker Livingston.

The defensive unit has earned the laurels as well. Mateer threw three interceptions and was sacked five times. He barely completed 20 passes for 38 attempts, reaching 202 yards and another 14 rushes for five yards. It wasn’t that he couldn’t throw the ball, after 17 days of hand surgery, but his miscalculated throws crumbled his offense, with Texas’ defense slicing right through Oklahoma with 61 total tackles.

On the other hand, Manning had a zero-interception game and a touchdown, completing 21-of-27 attempts, hauling in a QB rating of 89.0.

Two analysts, two opposite takes. But one thing is for sure, love it or hate it, Texas keeps grabbing the headlines. Manning has come full circle with both harsh critique and earned laurels.

But the question circles back to: Are Texas playoff-ready? Let’s find out

Are the Texas Longhorns making the playoffs?

A 23-6 win at the Cotton Bowl, the Texas Longhorns are recovering their footing. Steve Sarkisian, clad in the famed golden hat, cut through all the biting critique he faced. “We learned how to fight today,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We saw the true character of the men in that locker room.” He continued. “It’s easy to succumb to the outside noise. There was a lot of s— getting talked about our team, about these guys. And I think they responded.“

But are they playoff-ready?  On October 12, ESPN published its college football playoff projections (top 12) at the midseason. John Mateer’s defense was listed on No. 10, but Sarkisian’s roster still needs to win more challenging games to enter the list. Into the season, they emerged victorious against San Jose, UTEP, and Sam Houston.

Losses against Florida and Ohio State have put a question mark on the Longhorns’ ability to compete in the brutal SEC environment. Moving ahead, they have Georgia, Aggies (undefeated so far), Mississippi, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Kentucky in their schedule.