Longhorns arrive in Atlanta, set to play at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for 2nd time in nearly a month

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The new 12-team College Football Playoff format is creating all kinds of quirks for teams, and for the Texas Longhorns, they're headed back to the same venue where they played their conference championship almost a month ago.

Texas arrived in Atlanta on Sunday for the CFP quarterfinals at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl to be held at noon on New Year's Day in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That's the same stadium they lost 22-19 in overtime to Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 7, and if the Longhorns can get by Arizona State, they might have the opportunity to go for a third time this season. The CFP national title game is there Jan. 20.

As he deboarded the team's charter flight, Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner said he loves coming back to Atlanta.

"It's truly a blessing to be back here, but we also attack every game with the same mindset," he said. "It could be our last game any time we play now, so coming out here with a bunch of guys with the same mindset and attacking the game is the same."

If Texas beats Arizona State, they'll come back to the Lone Star State for the CFP semifinals at the Cotton Bowl Classic, held Jan. 10 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, against either top-seeded Oregon or Ohio State. A win at Jerry World would send the Longhorns back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a national championship on the line.

Obviously, there's still work to be done. Linebacker David Gbenda said the day was all about preparation.

"We were up early to get our lift in, got our meetings done and just made sure we prepared to our utmost best," he said.

Teams don't typically play in the same venue away from home multiple times in a season, but that's how things have worked out for Texas with the expanded CFP postseason. In years past, the Peach Bowl was between a team from the SEC and ACC, but now it's part of the CFP playoff rotation.