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

Reaching the College Football Playoff is obviously the ultimate prize for most big programs across the sport. There are immense incentives and benefits for getting into the field. Along with financial benefits, it's a boost to recruiting and program prestige. Not to mention that in any tournament format, there's an element of randomness and luck that could lead to winning a championship. 

All these factors, and more, make the lobbying for a playoff spot among programs and coaches a predictable, and understandable, part of late-season discussions. But similarly to the 2024 season, the hysterics, inaccuracies, and public relations nonsense coming from some of these top programs, are reaching remarkable new heights.

Last season, that came from coaches like former Ole Miss Rebels head Lane Kiffin. Kiffin, whose, uh, shall we say, performances, have taken on a new tone in 2025, was relentless in begging for a 9-3 Ole Miss team to reach the playoff. SEC boosters also wanted a 9-3 South Carolina team to be included, a South Carolina team that promptly lost to Illinois in a bowl game. 

This year's SEC campaign? Yet another 9-3 team: the Texas Longhorns. 

Head coach Steve Sarkisian has taken to the airwaves in the days after his team's win over the Texas A&M Aggies to push for a playoff spot. And the narratives, arguments, whining, and campaigning are becoming increasingly absurd, ridiculous, and embarrassing.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian. Photo: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Steve Sarkisian Can't Handle Reality Of Longhorns' Resume

Sarkisian started his campaign after beating A&M, repeating the traditional talking point of the supposed SEC gauntlet and the 10-point margin of victory over the Aggies.

"That team is undefeated, No. 3 three in the country. A lot of the pundits out there think they’re the No. 1 team in the country. We just beat them by 10," Sarkisian said. "If you really look at the body of work, and you look at the Southeastern Conference of what we have to go through every week, you look at the non-conference schedule we played, to go to Ohio State in Week 1 and lose by seven when we outgained them by nearly 200 yards—we got a really good football team.

"It would be a disservice to our sport if this team is not a playoff team when we went and scheduled that non-conference game. Because if we’re a 10-2 team, it’s not a question. But, we were willing to go play that game. So, is that what college football is about? Don’t play anybody and just have a good record, or play the best and put the best teams in the playoff. And, we’re one of the best teams."

It would be a "disservice to our sport" might be the best campaign line we've heard yet from a coach. A disservice! To college football! Just imagine, the horror of a 9-3 Texas team not being included in the College Football Playoff. Children across the country would weep. WEEP. Tears of pain. Of suffering. Of disappointment. Of disservice to the Holy Sport.

But unfortunately for Sark, and for the SEC, we have actual data to measure these things. And though he's conveniently forgotten how Texas' season actually played out, we haven't.

One of the best analytics-based ranking systems available is SP+, created by ESPN's Bill Connelly. The short explanation is that it compares teams based on offensive, defensive and special teams success rate, then adjusts for opponent. Essentially, doing what everyone wants ranking systems to do. 

Moving forward, based on SP+, the Longhorns are the 22nd best team in the country. Certainly not bad, by any means, but hardly befitting "disservice to the sport" nonsense. 

What about their resume, though? Because part of the playoff field isn't just which teams are the best looking forward, it's rewarding actual results. SP+ ranks that too, basing it off comparisons of "each team's scoring margin (capped at 50 points for a given game) to what an average top-five team would be expected to generate against a given opponent."

This is where Sark's "we beat them by 10" campaign line gets tested, over the course of an entire season. Well, by that measure, the Longhorns resume ranks 20th. 

So they don't deserve a playoff spot based on how we'd expect them to play moving forward, and they don't deserve a playoff spot based on their resume either. Perfection.

What about another ranking system? FEI, created by Brian Fremeau, is another highly respected efficiency and opponent-adjusted metric. Texas ranks 18th there, one spot behind Iowa. Based on what an average team would be expected to do against their schedule, they rank 16th, one spot ahead of 9-3 USC. No one's campaigning for USC to get into the playoff. Oh, and by the way, the Trojans are 17th in SP+, and 17th in strength of resume, both ahead of Texas. 

Beyond the objective measurements, the Longhorns subjectively don't pass the test either. They lost to 4-8 Florida, one of the worst Power 4 teams in the country this season. They beat Kentucky, another horrific team, 16-13 in overtime. They went to overtime with woeful Mississippi State. They scored 27 points against UTEP in a 27-10 win. They're not being punished just for losing to Ohio State, they're being punished because they looked so bad against the majority of their schedule. Even in the win over Vanderbilt, they nearly blew a huge lead, allowing 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Texas is a good team. The Longhorns have a lot of talent. They're almost certainly one of the best 15-20 teams in the country. They have no case to be included in the playoff over other, more deserving teams. No matter how hysterically dramatic their coach gets. What remains to be seen? Whether the conference affiliation patch on their jersey and Sark's campaigning works anyway.