Steve Sarkisian and Mario Cristobal trade verbal jabs while Texas and Miami fight for the committee's final playoff oxygen.
College Football Playoff politics always get messy in December, but this week, things went full-on spicy. After Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian spent Monday on a 24-hour campaign trail arguing the Longhorns deserve a CFP bid, his comments took an unexpected turn ... straight at Miami.
Without naming the Hurricanes, Sarkisian clearly referenced Miami running up the score against Pitt in a 38-7 win.
"Throw fade route touchdowns with 38 seconds to go when you're ahead 31-7 so that the score looks better," Sark said on SEC Network.
It didn’t take a detective to figure out who he meant.
And Mario Cristobal wasted zero time firing back. Appearing on Canes In Sight, Cristobal took a direct shot at Texas' loss to Florida, contrasting it with Miami’s dominant 26-7 win over the Gators back in September.
"I get it, everybody's trying to posture," Cristobal said. "But when coaches try to talk like that, they also need to take a look at the common opponent… we dominated that opponent while that opponent dominated them."
Cold. Accurate. And the exact kind of ammo the CFP committee hears loud and clear.
Miami suffocated Florida, holding the Gators to just 141 yards of offense. Texas, meanwhile, gave up 159 rushing yards in a 29-21 loss that still hangs over the Longhorns' season like a black cloud.
But resumes aren't built on one game. Texas owns three top-10 wins over Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt, all teams still firmly in the playoff conversation. Miami? Just one, their season-opening win against Notre Dame.
The problem for Texas is simple. That loss to Florida wasn't supposed to happen. If the Longhorns had taken care of business in The Swamp, they would be a 10-2 team with losses only to Ohio State and Georgia.
The debate wouldn't exist. The politicking wouldn’t be necessary. And Sark wouldn’t be throwing shade on national TV about fade routes in garbage time.
Both teams sit on the bubble. Both have arguments. And both have flaws. Texas may end up ranked ahead of Miami on Selection Sunday, but that doesn’t guarantee anything, not in a year this chaotic.
Sarkisian’s message was clear: stop punishing teams for scheduling tough games. Cristobal's message was clearer: don't talk if your own season has cracks.
Either way, the committee heard both men loud and clear ... and the Longhorns can only hope the noise works in their favor.