Steve Sarkisian Unwilling To Say That Texas Is Back, But Puts Longhorns In College Football Playoff Conversation

Is Texas football back?! Steve Sarkisian is unwilling to say, but he believes that the Longhorns are in a position where they can compete for a national championship.

The 49-year-old, in his third year with the program, likes what he has cooking.

Steve Sarkisian stands for the playing of The Eyes of Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Since losing the BCS National Championship in 2009, Texas has won 10 games just once. It has also missed out on a bowl game entirely on four separate occasions: once with Mack brown as head coach in 2010, twice with Charlie Strong in 2015 and 2016, and once in Sarkisian's first year.

Formerly a powerhouse that was consistently in the national title hunt, the Longhorns have settled into a lull of mediocrity. Even though most schools on the FBS level would sign a dotted line today if it guaranteed an eight-win season, that simply will not fly in Austin.

Texas is of the belief that it should be in national title contention each and every year. That has not been the case of late, and the jokes have been endless.

Especially after Sam Ehlinger declared that the program was "back" after winning the Sugar Bowl in 2019, and then could not surpass the eight-win mark in each of the next two seasons. Oops!

Is this the year that the Longhorns turn the corner, run through their final year against a Big-12 schedule, and play their way into the College Football Playoff? Sarkisian says that it is possible.

Obviously, any head coach in the country is going to make similar claims when asked. And Sarkisian knows what he would be doing by declaring his team back, so it's easier not to answer directly.

Still, though, he has now put his team in the Playoff conversation during a recent conversation with 103.5 The Fan. It is rather bold after going 8-5, getting stomped in the Alamo Bowl, and losing Bijan Robinson to the NFL.

You know I'm not going to I'm going to say this — I really like our football team. And I like our team because of the talent. I like our team because of the continuity of our staff for three years now. I like out team because of the culture we've built, so I'm excited about our season. What does that mean? I don't know, but I do like our football team and I think we've got a chance to be a championship football team this fall, so we'll see.

Former No. 1 overall recruit Quinn Ewers will be the starting quarterback this fall and expectations for a third-year bump are high. Here is how things are slated to play out:

Can Texas get it done? How many wins?