Last year Texas fell just short of making the College Football Playoff. After being the favorites to win the SEC the Longhorns went 9-3 and were one of the first teams left out of the playoff.
All offseason Texas fans have argued that their week one loss at Ohio State is the reason they were left out of the playoff. They think the CFP committee didn’t value the difficulty of playing that game as much as they should have, so instead of playing that game they wish Texas would’ve played a small school instead.
Apparently this is what Steve Sarkisian believes as well. At SEC Media Days this week he claimed that they would’ve been better off not playing Ohio State to make sure they would’ve made the playoff. However, it truly doesn’t get more lame than making excuses for their failure a whole year later, which is something Kirby Smart would never do.
Texas' Steve Sarkisian: "If we beat Ohio State (last year), we're surely in much better place for the playoffs. If I don't play Ohio State & play Jones Jr. High, we're 10-2 & our losses are to Georgia & Florida & we're a playoff team."
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 23, 2026
Steve Sarkisian keeps making excuses for Texas missing the 2025 CFP
Sarkisian is correct that Texas would’ve made the playoff last year if they played a small school instead of Ohio State. But they can’t blame anyone for that because they willingly chose to schedule them.
On top of that, Texas lost to Florida last year who finished 4-8. So maybe instead of complaining about playing and losing to Ohio State they should’ve just beat Florida. If they did that then Texas would’ve been 10-2 and absolutely in the playoff field, but instead they lost to the Gators and refuse to acknowledge that this game ever occurred.
Sarkisian however could learn a thing or two from Smart because he would never stoop to this level.
Steve Sarkisian could learn a thing or two from Kirby Smart
Georgia was in a similar situation to Texas during the 2023 season. After winning two National Championships in a row and going 12-0 during the 2023 regular season, they were left out of the playoff after losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship game.
Smart and Georgia were very upset after they were left out of the playoff that year. They likely even complained about it for a few days. But was Smart and his team still complaining about it right before the next season began? Not at all.
Instead Georgia went to their bowl game that season and blasted Florida State 63-3. They then went on to win the SEC in 2024 and 2025 to earn their spot in the playoff the following years.
Sarkisian could learn from Smart about what it takes to lead a program. Complaining months later about something they can’t control anymore sets a dangerous precedent that it’s okay to just blame others for your failures. On top of that, Sarkisian was also quoted at SEC Media Days saying that he pushed some of his players out to make room for new transfers coming in.
That’s not how you build a locker room.
Smart would never do either of these things in a million years, and so far that has led to him being the winningest coach in all of college football this decade. If Sarkisian were wise he would try to copy Smart, but at this point that doesn’t seem likely.
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