Steve Sarkisian: Texas to honor Ohio State, Michigan games

ORLANDO, Fla. — Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday the Longhorns would honor the return nonconference games with Ohio State in 2026 and Michigan in 2027, but would reconsider its nonconference scheduling philosophy beyond that based on College Football Playoff selection criteria.

During a media availability as part of the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Sarkisian was asked about his 9-3 team being left out of the CFP this season.

After Texas beat Texas A&M 27-17 to end the regular season, Sarkisian lobbied for his team to make it into the 12-team field as an at-large team. He said, in part, the Longhorns should not be penalized for playing Ohio State to open the season. The Longhorns lost 14-7.

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Sarkisian said Monday the committee needed to adhere to the criteria it had laid out, especially as it related to strength of schedule.

“You look at the principles of the CFP. The first bullet point is strength of schedule. We need to honor the criteria,” Sarkisian said. “If we can lay the foundation for that, then that will directly impact what we do moving forward. This year, we didn’t feel like they followed through with what the principles of the CFP were. That’s why we fought for our case, and I don’t feel bad about fighting for our case.

“If we’re not going to value strength of schedule, then surely that’s going to adjust what we do moving forward in our nonconference scheduling. We’re going to nine SEC conference games, so to think that we’re going to play a 10th game against an Ohio State and Michigan, and who knows else down the road, I hope we get credit for that. If not, then we really need to look after the ’27 season.”

After the Texas A&M game, Sarkisian said, “Do you want us not to schedule Ohio State? Because if we’re a 10-2 team right now, this isn’t a discussion. We’re in the playoff. But we were willing to go up there and play that game.”

Texas went 6-1 in its final seven games and finished 3-2 against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time they played. A loss to Florida might have hurt Texas more than the loss to Ohio State. Texas also played at Michigan in 2024, a dominant 31-12 win.

Because both of those games were on the road, Texas wanted to keep those two teams on the schedule for the return home games the next two seasons. But those games were scheduled before the SEC moved to nine games.

Sarkisian said his team was still looking forward to playing Michigan in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl to reach double-digit wins for the third straight season. Texas had made the CFP the previous two seasons.

“We’ve got a two-year snapshot now coming up of what is the committee really looking at?” Sarkisian said. “What do they value? If it’s just records, then everyone’s going to race to the best record. If it’s quality football teams and who are the best football teams, regardless of what your record says you are, then that’s going to change some things. So we’ll see how it goes.”