Sarkisian pushes Texas' playoff case after beating A&M, questioning whether the committee values records or quality wins as SEC schedules toughen.
Before Texas' game against Texas A&M, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said he would hold off on pleading his case to the playoff committee until after the game, when his squad was hopefully celebrating a rivalry win.
After the Longhorns' 27-17 win against the Aggies, Sarkisian has kept true to his promise, going full politician mode.
"I think we're absolutely a playoff team," Sarkisian said after the game.
But Sarkisian is not finished yet. On Monday, he appeared on SEC This Morning to further discuss his team's playoff prospects.
"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?" he said. "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."
"So is the committee really watching the games, or are they just looking at a stat sheet?"
He has a point. If we're only judging teams by record, what's the point in having a committee? Who you beat has to hold some kind of weight.
Sarkisian also took direct shots at Miami by referring to its late touchdown against Pittsburgh on Saturday. One of Texas' biggest weaknesses on its resume is its lack of style points, with its highest margin of victory in SEC play being just 17 points. But as Sarkisian has said all season, this conference is brutal, and nothing is a given.
With the SEC adopting a nine-game conference schedule starting next season, coaches like Sarkisian are wondering — is it worth it to schedule tough non-conference opponents?
"I think we have to (reconsider). At the end of the day, now we're going to nine conference games," he said. "We've got to be mindful of the fact that we've played five top-ten ranked teams. The next closest team that's ranked ahead of us has played two. There are multiple teams in front of us that have played none."
"At that point, if we're just staring at a record, we've got to put ourselves in a better position to get a better record."
Starting next season, SEC teams are required to schedule a power conference opponent, but what's stopping them from scheduling a team like Syracuse (sorry for the stray) every season?
If this trend continues, marquee matchups like Texas vs. Ohio State that occur early in the season are in serious jeopardy.
"All I care about is that we're trying to put the best teams in and not get caught up in the record. Ultimately, if we just keep staring at the record, then all we're going to try to do is get a good record," Sarkisian said.
"I don't think that's what we want in college football. We want teams competing against the best teams. That's what makes our sport great."
That's something we can all agree on.