Miami's Mario Cristobal Hits Back After Facing Criticism From Steve Sarkisian

College Football Playoff season is upon us, and the campaigning from coaches is in full swing. 

Just like the 2024 season, three-loss SEC teams are leading the charge, while two-loss teams are outright stating that other conferences shouldn't be taken seriously. Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea, for example, said that nothing compares to the SEC "gauntlet," after playing the 39th hardest schedule in the country. 

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian has been another vocal proponent of SEC supremacy, saying that excluding his 9-3 team would be a "disservice" to the sport.

RELATED: Texas, Sarkisian College Football Playoff Lobbying Reaches Whole New Ridiculous Level

Another one of Sarkisian's complaints about other playoff bubble teams centered on the Miami Hurricanes and how they handled the end of their game against the Pittsburgh Panthers. With the game effectively over at 31-7, Miami threw another touchdown to go up 38-7 over the then No. 22 team in the country. 

Sark was paying attention, saying in a press conference this week.

"Is this about what your record is at the end, or is this about beating quality teams and showing how good of a team you really are by beating quality teams on the field," Sarkisian said. "Or, is it, don’t play good teams, put up a bunch of yards, put up a bunch of points, and make it look good. Throw fade route touchdowns with 38 seconds to go when you’re ahead 31-7 so that the score looks better. So is the committee really watching the games, or are they just looking at a stat sheet at the end of the game to say ‘Oh, well they won by this many points, they must’ve played really good.’"

Well, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal heard those criticisms and had an argument of his own to make.

Head coach Mario Cristobal of the Miami Hurricanes. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Mario Cristobal Fires Back At Sark's Criticisms

Cristobal told On3's Brett McMurphy that he had a different perspective on which team, Miami or Texas, deserved to be included in the 12-team field. 

"That’s funny," Cristobal said. "We had one common opponent: Florida dominated Texas 29-21, a team we beat convincingly 26-7. That settles that debate."

Well, it's tough to argue too much with that. Here's the thing: Sark has a point, Miami throwing a meaningless touchdown to go up 38-7 with time ticking away clearly makes the score line look more impressive. At the same time, beating Pittsburgh 31-7 on the road was impressive and resume building enough. 

And Cristobal too has a point. Despite the constant hypothetical scenario argument from fans and even SEC coaches, "Miami would lose 12 games in the SEC11!!!111" they handily beat the same Florida team that thoroughly handled Texas. 

The metrics agree. Miami is higher than Texas in SP+, FPI, FEI and Sagarin Ratings. They're the better team, despite not having the correct conference patch on their jersey. One game doesn't settle the debate, but a season's worth of outcomes do, and it's consistently shown that the Hurricanes are a better team than Texas. If only they had the hypothetical protection they need.