Steve Sarkisian Says Three-Loss Longhorns Are ‘Absolutely a Playoff Team’
Now that the regular season is over, it’s time for the politicking season to begin in college football, and Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is off to a strong start.
In his post-game comments following the Longhorns’ shocking dismantling of third-ranked Texas A&M, Sarkisian made the case for his team’s inclusion in the playoff (despite their loss to unranked Florida) by citing the recent history of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
“This whole idea that, ‘Well, you lost to Florida.’ Well, the team that played for the national championship last year lost to Northern Illinois at home,” Sarkisian said via On3. “So you’re going to punish us, and you don’t want to punish them, but they were good enough to go play for a national title?
“So I have no doubt in my mind that the team we have in that locker room downstairs is a Playoff football team and worthy of an opportunity to play for a national championship.”
Full credit to Sarkisian for having an argument for his squad, locked and loaded for reporters mere minutes after a thrilling game against an archrival. However, there are some flaws in his reasoning.
First and foremost, yes: Notre Dame did suffer a shocking home loss to Northern Illinois last year. But unlike Texas, Notre Dame finished 11-1. Texas is a three-loss team.
That’s a big difference.
In addition, Notre Dame did not have a 25-point loss on its record in November, as Texas did after its 35-10 thumping at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs.
So, again, Sark gets an A for effort, but his argument falls apart under closer scrutiny.
Still, Texas’s win and Miami’s strong showing against Pitt, there’s a chance that both Texas and Notre Dame will be outside-looking-in when the committee unveils its rankings on Saturday.
