Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is questioning why his team played defending champion Ohio State this season with it looking possible his squad will miss the College Football Playoff field.
The No. 16 Longhorns (9-3) upset then-No. 3 Texas A&M on Friday to keep their hopes alive. But losses to then-No. 3 Ohio State, unranked Florida and then-No. 5 Georgia are a problem with several teams with fewer losses also in contention for at-large berths.
“Why did we even play Ohio State?” Sarkisian said on SiriusXM on Tuesday of the 14-7 loss. “Because if we’re a 10-2 team right now that played four top-10 ranked opponents with three top-10 wins, we’re not even having a discussion right now. So, my point is: Why the hell am I going to play that game next year? For what? What good does it do?”
The Buckeyes and Longhorns are slated to meet in 2026 in Austin, so perhaps next time Texas notches a big victory and isn’t in a similar position.
Then again, Sarkisian says the CFP guidelines make it feel like there is no need to play a team like Ohio State.
“I’m looking at the principles of the CFP,” Sarkisian said. “I’m looking at the sheet of paper right now. The first two bullet points say strength of schedule and head-to-head competition. That’s the frustrating part. So, to me, when you talk about future scheduling — and we don’t get in? — what’s the point in playing them. There’s no benefit to that.
“And we’re going to nine games in the SEC next year. I get it, there’s going to be a network (ESPN) upset if we don’t play that game, because there’s probably going to be 15 to 16 million viewers that would watch that game. But I get no benefit from playing the game. It does nothing for me. I have a responsibility to the University of Texas and our players to put them in the best position.”
Prior to Tuesday night’s reveal of the latest CFP rankings ahead of championship weekend, Texas has head-to-head victories over three Southeastern Conference programs ranked in the top 10 at the time in which the teams played — No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 9 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Texas A&M. The Longhorns lost to No. 5 Georgia and didn’t face Ole Miss or Alabama.
The big blow is the 29-21 loss to Florida on Oct. 4, a team that fired coach Billy Napier 15 days later.
No. 12 Miami of the Atlantic Coast Conference is one of the other teams facing the same uphill climb as the Longhorns. And the two coaches exchanged barbs on Monday.
Sarkisian criticized Miami coach Mario Cristobal on Monday for the Hurricanes scoring a touchdown with 41 seconds left to pad the victory margin in Miami’s 38-7 win over Pitt on Saturday.
“There’s teams that are ranked in front of us that haven’t played any top-10 ranked teams,” Sarkisian said on SEC Network. “My point to everybody is, is this about what your record is at the end? Or is this about beating quality teams and showing how good of a team you really are by beating quality teams on the field. Or is it don’t play good teams, put up a bunch of yards, put up a bunch of points and make it look good. Throw fade route touchdowns with 38 seconds to go when you’re ahead 31-7 so that the score looks better.
“Is the committee watching the games or are they looking at a stat sheet at the end of the game to say, ‘Oh, well they won by this many points, they must’ve played really good.'”
Cristobal was only too happy to return serve and use Florida (4-8) as an example, a common opponent of both teams. The Hurricanes beat the Gators 26-7.
“I get it, everybody’s trying to posture themselves for their programs and whatnot. The great part about stuff like that when coaches try to speak about themselves like that, they also gotta take a look at the common opponent between us and that particular coach,” Cristobal said on Canes In Sight. “Seeing that we had the opportunity to really dominate that opponent while that opponent dominated them.”
Miami played one top-10 team, beating Notre Dame 27-24 in its season opener.
