Steve Sarkisian Says Texas Must Beat Georgia to Rule the SEC

Texas football can collect preseason praise, stockpile NFL talent and talk openly about championships. None of it changes the ugliest truth hanging over Steve Sarkisian’s program.

The Longhorns still haven’t beaten Georgia.

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SEC Media Days ended with the Bulldogs once again picked to win the conference, and Sarkisian wasn’t interested in manufacturing outrage over the vote.

Georgia has earned the benefit of the doubt. Kirby Smart’s program has won three of the past four SEC championships and defeated Texas in all three meetings since the Longhorns joined the league.

That includes Georgia’s 22-19 victory over Texas in the 2024 SEC Championship Game.

“If you want to be the champion, you’ve got to beat the champion,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve played Georgia three times and they’ve beaten us.”

That isn’t coach-speak. It’s the entire Texas challenge condensed into one uncomfortable sentence.

Georgia has become what Alabama used to be: the program every contender eventually has to survive. Smart has guided the Bulldogs to national championships in 2021 and 2022 after previously reaching the title game in 2017.

Georgia doesn’t simply recruit at an elite level. It develops, reloads and turns championship pressure into routine business.

Texas has closed the talent gap, but it hasn’t closed the scoreboard gap.

The Longhorns won’t face Georgia during the 2026 regular season, which only increases the possibility of another high-stakes collision in Atlanta.

The media selected Georgia and Texas as the conference’s top two teams, making a fourth matchup feel less like fantasy and more like an appointment waiting to be booked.

That’s where Texas’ championship credibility may ultimately be judged.

Beating Oklahoma matters. Surviving Ohio State, LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M matters. Reaching the College Football Playoff matters.

But until Sarkisian’s team knocks Georgia off the mountain, every Texas title claim will come with an asterisk-sized question.

Can the Longhorns beat the team that keeps punching them in the mouth?

Sarkisian gave Smart and Georgia their respect, but his message also sounded like a challenge to his own locker room.

Texas doesn’t need another encouraging performance against the Bulldogs. It doesn’t need another close loss or another lesson about competing with the SEC’s best.

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The Longhorns need Georgia on the other sideline, the championship on the line and a different ending.

Until that happens, Texas isn’t the king of the SEC. It’s merely the most dangerous challenger.