Steve Sarkisian says CFP committee didn’t stick to ‘principles’ this season
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In a media availability with reporters in Orlando ahead of the Citrus Bowl, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian called the upcoming 9-game SEC schedule “unheard of,” suggested Texas should get credit for scheduling tough out-of-conference games when it comes to the College Football Playoff, and said if that doesn’t happen, Texas will look “long and hard” at its future out-of-conference scheduling.
Sarkisian said Texas plans to honor upcoming games against Ohio State and Michigan in 2026 and 2027. But the Texas head coach was still clearly bothered by his team’s exclusion from the CFP this season after playing what he felt was one of the most difficult schedules in the country.
And Sarkisian felt like the ways the Longhorns challenged themselves were in keeping with the things the CFP selection committee said it would value… until it didn’t.
“We need to get clear criteria for what the committee is looking for,” Sarkisian said, per KVUE’s Cory Mose. “Tell us what the criteria is, and then stick to the criteria. If we’re not going to value strength of schedule, then surely that’s going to adjust what we do moving forward.”
Sarkisian hasn’t been shy about criticizing the selection committee since Texas was left out of the field.
The Longhorns finished 13th in the final Top 25 from the committee. Even had Tulane and James Madison not received auto-bids into the field as conference champions, Texas would have been left out in favor of 10-2 Notre Dame and 11-2 BYU.
“This year, you look at the principles of the CFP, the first bullet point is strength of schedule. Then, we need to honor what the criteria and the principles are of the CFP,” Sarkisian said. “If we can lay the foundation for that, then that will directly impact what we do moving forward. And then they have to follow through with what they say is important to them.
“Clearly, this year, we didn’t feel like they followed through with what the principles of the CFP were. That’s why we fought for our case.”
Sarkisian cited a winning record against top-10 teams. Texas played 5 teams in the regular season that were ranked in the AP Top 10 at the time of the game, winning 3 and losing 2.
Texas 2 wins against teams that finished in the CFP selection committee’s top 10. Vanderbilt was an AP Top 10 team when Texas played it, but Vanderbilt finished 14th in the CFP committee’s rankings.
According to ESPN’s FPI, Texas played the seventh-toughest schedule in the country and produced the 12th-strongest record against that schedule.
“I don’t feel bad about fighting for our case,” Sarkisian said. “We played 5 top-10 ranked teams in 12 regular-season games.”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
