Texas, the SEC, and the CFP Dilemma: When Strength of Schedule Becomes the Story
AUSTIN, Texas - The SEC has never been shy about promoting its own toughness, but this year, commissioner Greg Sankey is making sure the College Football Playoff committee hears the message loud and clear. Back in May, during the SEC’s spring meetings, Sankey distributed a six-page packet titled “SEC - A REGULAR SEASON GAUNTLET”, filled with strength-of-schedule metrics from ESPN’s analytics guru Bill Connelly and veteran stat man Kenneth Massey.
The point? Simple: the SEC plays the toughest regular-season football in the country.
And now, as the CFP committee prepares to release its penultimate rankings, that message is front and center.
Sankey’s question to the room back in May still echoes today: “How will a nine-and-three SEC team be evaluated against others who may have one or two losses?” With the new 12-team playoff format just days from being finalized, that question carries real weight - especially for a Texas team sitting squarely in the crosshairs.
Texas’ Case: A Gauntlet Survived
The Longhorns are 9-3. But those three losses don’t tell the full story - not even close.
Texas has faced five Top-10 opponents this season: Ohio State, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Texas A&M. They came away with three wins, including a 27-17 victory last Friday over then-unbeaten, No.
3 Texas A&M. They also beat Oklahoma and Vanderbilt - two teams currently ranked ahead of them in the CFP standings.
That’s the kind of résumé that would turn heads in most years. But in a system that still heavily values win-loss records without always accounting for the strength of the path taken, Texas finds itself in a murky spot.
The CFP Committee’s Challenge
Tonight at 6 p.m. CT, the CFP committee will release its second-to-last rankings before Sunday’s final reveal of the 12-team playoff field. And all eyes in Austin - and across the SEC - will be watching to see how the committee weighs Texas’ brutal schedule against the cleaner records of teams from less rigorous conferences.
Sankey, who won’t speak again until Thursday ahead of the SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Alabama, made it clear months ago that he wants more transparency from the committee. He’s not just talking about win-loss records. He wants to know what data actually informs the decisions.
Back in May, he said, *“We went to the human element [a CFP committee] with some data. We need to understand what that data is.”
- The data he brought to the table showed that over the 10 years leading into this season, the SEC consistently played the toughest schedules in college football - by a significant margin. The Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC followed, but none matched the SEC’s week-in, week-out grind.
The title page of Sankey’s packet didn’t mince words: “No other conference has a regular-season as grueling as the SEC’s.”
Sarkisian Speaks Out
With Sankey off the podium for now, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has taken on the role of advocate. He’s been making the media rounds this week, laying out Texas’ case with the help of UT sports information director John Bianco, who’s been feeding national media outlets with bullet points highlighting the Longhorns’ résumé.
And Sarkisian isn’t holding back. The head coach has been vocal about the risk-reward equation of scheduling marquee non-conference games - especially in light of Texas’ season-opening 14-7 loss at Ohio State.
Back in August, Sarkisian was optimistic about the impact of that game. “From a CFP standpoint, it’s almost like check mark the box for a positive that they were willing to play the game,” he said.
*“Maybe they won it, maybe they didn’t. But, surely, they put themselves out there and were willing to do it.”
But now, with Texas on the fringe of the playoff conversation, his tone has shifted. On SiriusXM Radio this week, Sarkisian asked the question many coaches are quietly wondering: *“Why do we even play that game [at Ohio State]?”
- He continued, *“Because if we’re a 10-2 team right now that played four top-10 ranked opponents with three top-10 wins, we’re not even having a discussion right now. So, my point is: Why the hell am I going to play that game next year?
For what? What good does it do?”
It’s a fair question - especially when you consider what’s still ahead for Texas. The Longhorns have high-profile non-conference matchups scheduled against Ohio State again in 2026, Michigan in 2027, and a home-and-home with Notre Dame in 2028 and 2029.
The Bigger Picture
This is more than just a Texas problem. It’s a playoff problem.
The current system - even with the expanded 12-team format looming - still leaves room for ambiguity. What matters more: wins, or who you beat and how you challenged yourself?
Sankey’s frustration makes sense. Two of the teams ranked ahead of Texas - Oklahoma and Vanderbilt - lost to the Longhorns head-to-head. And yet, here we are, waiting to see whether Texas’ bold scheduling and battle-tested record are enough to sway the committee.
This is exactly the kind of scenario Sankey was warning about back in May. The SEC wants clarity.
Coaches want incentives to keep scheduling big games. And fans want to know that the toughest roads still lead somewhere.
Whatever happens tonight, one thing is clear: the conversation around strength of schedule isn’t going away. And with a 16-team playoff on the horizon, it’s only going to get louder.