Florida went into Austin on Oct. 17 and beat Texas 27-24. Both teams are 5-2. And in our own Top 10, Texas is No. 4 and Florida is No. 10.
We wrote the rule ourselves: same record, head-to-head decides it. So we asked the Faders to settle it, and I owe you our answer.
The case for Florida
- Beat Texas on the road, 27-24.
- Beat Ole Miss 52-28 when the Rebels were ranked No. 4.
- Same 5-2 record. Head-to-head is the tiebreaker we said we would use.
The case for Texas
- Beat Ohio State 24-23, at Tennessee 20-17 and No. 7 Ole Miss 34-27. That is the best set of wins in the country.
- Both losses were by three points: 27-24 at Oklahoma and 27-24 to Florida.
- Florida lost 45-17 at Missouri and 38-19 at home to South Carolina.
Our answer: Texas stays ahead
The fine print in our rule matters. Head-to-head decides it unless the other team has clearly better wins since, and Texas went out the next week and beat a top-10 Ole Miss team. Florida has not played since Austin.
Then there is the “bad losses cost more” part. Losing two games by three is not the same as losing two by 28 and 19. Florida has the better day. Texas has the better season.
That said, the Gators get their chance to make this argument for us. Florida plays No. 3 Georgia on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Central on ABC in Atlanta. Texas hosts Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN. Beat Georgia, and the Gators are not staying at No. 10. Lose by 20 again, and nobody is asking this question on Sunday.
Still think head-to-head should win? Tell us we are wrong. That is half the fun.
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Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade.
