Did Texas just lock in No. 1 ranking regardless of Ohio State-Oregon result?

The Week 7 college football slate was chock full of fantastic matchups, chief among them No. 1 Texas v. No. 18 Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry and No. 2 Ohio State v. No. 3 Oregon.

The top-ranked Longhorns took care of business Saturday against the Sooners, earning the Golden Hat Trophy back with an emphatic 34-3 drubbing in the historic Cotton Bowl stadium.

After the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 poll was replaced two weeks in a row, will the voters make it three and crown the winner of Ohio State v. Oregon the new top-ranked program?

How will the AP voters reward top-ranked wins?

It made sense for the AP voters to swap out the No. 1 teams in consecutive weeks. Alabama had defeated Georgia, then-No. 2, when then-No. 1 Texas was idle on its bye week. Therefore, a swap made sense to reward a top-ranked win.

Then, Alabama fell to Vanderbilt and, naturally, tumbled from their thrown. Texas, then-No. 2, took care of its business and returned to the top spot.

Now, since it took care of business — and against a Top 20 opponent at that — will the voters reward the Longhorns for doing what it was supposed to do? Or will it value either a favored Ohio State winning where it was supposed to or an home-dog Oregon team pulling a Top 3 upset?

If you ask me, Texas should retain the top spot no matter what happens in Eugene. Don't get me wrong, whoever wins that bout will have accomplished something significant in the long run of the Big Ten title race and the College Football Playoff.

But the No. 1 team has earned its keep if it continues to win. Now, it matters how it wins but that wasn't an issue for Texas on Saturday as the score line indicates.

Nevertheless, the No. 1 ranking means relatively little right now. There will be plenty of time in December and January to adjudicate who really is the best in the nation - when these teams will face off in a single-elimination bracket to determine an undisputed national champion.