Manuel acknowledged Georgia’s beatdown of Texas — maybe the best road win by any school this season — but called the Longhorns “a very strong team” deserving of their top-three seed. He cited their top five defense and credited Quinn Ewers for leading “one of the top passing offenses in the country.”

For the second straight week, Texas was ranked behind just Oregon and Ohio State and seeded second in the College Football Playoff projections.

Texas remained No. 3 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night and would secure a first-round bye with a projected quarterfinal game against the winner of Indiana-Ole Miss at Royal-Memorial Stadium.