Texas AD Chris Del Conte Has A Plan To Fix College Football: Tougher Schedules, Expanded Playoff

The Texas Longhorns entered the 2025 season with expectations of winning a National Championship. Arch Manning, presumptive Heisman Trophy favorite, at quarterback. One of the most expensive rosters in college football, loaded with talent on offense and defense, and head coach Steve Sarkisian, who'd brought the Longhorns back to prominence quickly.

But their season got derailed almost immediately, thanks to their willingness to schedule tough non-conference games. Instead of opening with a cupcake FBS team or a guaranteed win over an FCS program, Texas started with a true road game against the defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes. They lost.

Several other disappointing losses followed, and Texas struggled with some lower tier SEC teams like Mississippi State and Kentucky. Instead of a return to the College Football Playoff, a 9-3 record sentenced them to the Citrus Bowl. 

As the season was wrapping up, Sarkisian made some pointed comments about scheduling easier non-conference games moving forward, saying they'd have made the playoff if not for the loss to Ohio State. But in some new remarks this week, his AD, Chris Del Conte, revealed he doesn't agree. And he has a broader plan to help fix the sport and its schedule moving forward.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Chris Del Conte Wants Big Games To Continue, An Expanded Playoff

Del Conte said, per Anwar Richardson, that he wanted the SEC to expand to nine conference games immediately, toughening their schedule and giving them a guarantee of four games at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium. 

"So, as soon as we got in the SEC, we were like, ‘Hey, time out. We need to go to nine games,’ because I want four on the road, four at home and the neutral site," he said. "And with the playoff going from four teams to 12 teams, we voted to go to nine games. 

"But before we joined the SEC, I made schedules of Ohio State and Michigan. We had USC, we had LSU, because I was trying to make sure that your dollar that you’re spending with us, we’re bringing the best teams we could into DKR and play those great teams. That’s what we wanted. So we scheduled great games here to bring value to you all."

He continued, saying he values bringing marquee games to Austin, and that he won't cancel games he'd agree to play. A refreshing change of pace as some programs put playoff appearances first.

"But I want our fans — Longhorn Nation — to be able to watch Ohio State in this stadium," he said. "I want fans in Longhorn Nation to be able to watch Michigan, along with our SEC slate. But I had a lot of people say we need to cancel those games. No, we’re going to honor our word. If we play them, said we’re going to go play, you’re going to come and play me, we’re going to honor our word. That’s what we do."

He also made the point that expanding the playoff further would allow teams to continue scheduling big non-conference games without jeopardizing their chances of making it.

"I will tell you that college football is built around your regular season. Do you guys really want nice, good games in DKR? We can play three cream puffs, and we can play an SEC schedule," Del Conte explained. "But if the playoff is going to expand, which I prefer the playoff expands, you want to then have great games, right, and value those great games, as long as we have an opportunity to get into postseason.

"I prefer to preserve the regular season by playing great games and not dumbing down your schedule and playing nobody with the hopes that you can get in the playoff because you played nobody. If we can strengthen our regular season and keep that where our fans are engaged and want to see great games and have an expanded playoff, that’d be awesome."

He also added that changing the schedule could benefit everyone too, including getting rid of conference championship games and replacing them with playoffs.

"I’m also in favor of moving the schedule up a week," he said. "Start Week Zero, which is the last week in August. Be a little hot here. We got to make sure it’s a night game. I get that. But start in the last week in August, and you play Labor Day weekend.

"I’m also in favor — why have a conference championship game? Let’s start the playoffs that week, right? Start the playoffs that week, and let’s play every single week, and the semifinals are played on New Year’s Day, which is college football, and the national championship a week later."

There's a lot of sense in what he says. Part of what makes college football fun and exciting is the variety of big non-conference games that fill up the first few weeks. But as the collapse of the USC-Notre Dame rivalry shows, all too often, teams are prioritizing maximizing playoff opportunities instead. And conference championship games are mostly a relic of the prior format of the sport, where winning the Big Ten or the SEC meant something in and of itself. How do Georgia Bulldogs fans feel after winning the SEC Championship Game and then losing to Ole Miss? Think they'd trade that SEC championship title for a deeper playoff run? 

If the schedule started earlier, it could finish earlier, instead of dragging on well into late January. Keep the momentum going, instead of taking extended breaks. Bowl season used to revolve around the end of the school semester, but nobody pretends P4 players care about school anymore. Del Conte also repeated the now debunked SEC "gauntlet" narrative, but hey, one bad idea doesn't outweigh a bunch of good ones, right?