University of Texas Longhorns head to playoffs

Light the tower, the Longhorns are heading to New Orleans.

Driving the news: Following their blowout victory in the Big 12 Championship game, the Longhorns leapt into the four-team College Football Playoff, giving them a select shot for a national championship.

Why it matters: As Austin, in all its fragmenting prosperity, moves further and further from its core identity as a college town, there's something old-school about the resurgence of UT football to bring us all closer together.

Catch up quick: Heading into the weekend, the seventh-ranked Longhorns were on the outside looking in, their path to the top four looking narrow.

• But the Horns, whose only loss came to Oklahoma, romped over Oklahoma State Saturday, 49-21, with white-hot quarterback Quinn Ewers leading Texas to a Big 12 Championship game record with 662 yards of total offense.
• Meanwhile, they got help, as Alabama — whom the Longhorns had upset earlier in the season — beat undefeated Georgia, and an undefeated Florida State team. FSU's star quarterback was sidelined with a season-ending injury and the team looked anemic in their close-out game.

What they're saying: "It's still kind of sinking in, but it's just super cool," Ewers told the media on Sunday, after the squad learned of their selection into the playoff.

What's next: The 12-1 Longhorns, now ranked third, will face the undefeated Washington Huskies on Jan. 1 in New Orleans in the Sugar Bowl.

• The winner will face the victor of the Michigan-Alabama matchup in the national championship game on Jan. 8 at NRG Stadium in Houston.

The intrigue: The New Year's Day game is a rematch of the 2022 Alamo Bowl, which the Huskies won 27-20.

The bottom line: Sugar Bowl tickets were starting at $560 apiece on Sunday night.