Steve Sarkisian Pushing For 3-Loss SEC Team To Make Playoff

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Several SEC programs remain in the College Football Playoff hunt, and they could derail each other's chances with marquee conference matchups in the regular season's closing weeks.

Steve Sarkisian's 7-2 Texas Longhorns may not have any margin for error to salvage a postseason ticket. That is, unless, the selection committee favors an SEC member over a team with a better record but easier schedule from another conference.

Per On Texas Football's CJ Vogel, Sarkisian was asked on Tuesday if he thinks an SEC team with a 9-3 record would deserve to make the CFP. The Longhorns' head coach appears to think that was the case last year.

"What the committee does with the teams in our conference, we'll see," Sarkisian said. "But I know our conference is really deep. It's really good. Probably deserving of more than three teams, I know that much. I think the SEC only got three teams in last year, which is kind of laughable, quite frankly. But we'll see what happens this year."

SEC's Playoff landscape

Texas made last year's CFP despite losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Tennessee, which finished the regular season 10-2, joined those 11-2 squads in the expanded 12-team postseason.

Alabama and South Carolina missed the cut at 9-3 in favor of SMU, which received the final at-large bid at 11-2. Those who supported an SEC squad with an inferior record to the ACC program may have felt vindicated when Penn State pummeled the Mustangs in the CFP's opening round.

If a similar situation unfolds this year, Sarkisian's Longhorns could be shunned.

Texas currently ranks No. 13 in the AP poll with road losses to No. 1 Ohio State and unranked Florida. The Longhorns have responded with huge SEC victories over Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, but they face two more steep challenges against Georgia and Texas A&M.

That could mean a 9-3 finish if Texas splits those matchups and defeats Arkansas. Yet seven SEC teams are currently 7-2 or better, so Sarkisian could get his wish of more SEC playoff representation without the committee welcoming any three-loss teams.

"I know our conference is tough," Sarkisian said. "It really is. It feels like a playoff game every week, and I don't know if it feels that way in all the other conferences … I don't know what's going to happen with the CFP and who gets in and who doesn't. I just know in our league, it's really hard."

This story was originally reported by The Spun on Nov 4, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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