High risk, high reward: Sarkisian talks nonconference schedules

When Texas football missed the 2025 College Football Playoff, teams across the Southeastern Conference had a new question to address: Does the potential reward of defeating a tough nonconference opponent outweigh the risk of an early blemish on a team’s record?

In other words, did the Longhorns’ decision to face Ohio State in week two create an unnecessary hurdle for head coach Steve Sarkisian and his team before they were ready?

Texas’ 14-7 loss in the game and 9–3 regular season record point toward an affirmative answer to that question. However, now that the dust has settled and the 2026 season is on the horizon, Sarkisian’s response is more nuanced.

“Like anything in this world, if you want to be really good at something, then you have got to take risks,” Sarkisian said at the SEC Media Days in Tampa, Fla., on July 23. “Yes, there’s risk involved in playing a high-level nonconference schedule, but there’s a lot of value in that win.”

Sarkisian compared the value in the possible win against the Buckeyes to his team’s triumphant victory against Alabama in Tuscaloosa back in 2023. That win, he proposed, served as the driving factor in his team’s securing a spot in the four-team CFP format that existed at the time. He also added that his team’s nonconference road win against Michigan in 2024 also played a part in their earning a CFP spot in the inaugural 12-team format. 

That said, Sarkisian acknowledged that matchups like these are associated with high stakes.

“The other side of it is, if I don’t play Ohio State, and I play Jones Junior High, and we’re 10–2, and our two losses are to Georgia and Florida, we’re a playoff team,” he said.

Playing against Jones Junior High, a hypothetical university from Sarkisian’s imagination, likely wouldn’t prepare his team for its upcoming SEC schedule. But a win against any program would be another tick in the win column. Ultimately, the CFP Selection Committee is responsible for weighing Texas’ strength of schedule in its selection criteria. 

The Longhorns will face the Buckeyes on Sept. 12 in Austin — that much is set in stone. However, beyond 2026, it appears their nonconference scheduling remains up in the air.

“I don’t know yet about Notre Dame — we’ll see,” Sarkisian said. “I think the committee has to show us what happens now, what’s the value they’re placing on (the) strength of schedule. Are we going to let a 9–3 team in as an at-large?”

This year’s results, according to Sarkisian, could help provide more clarity in how to approach nonconference scheduling in the future.

The new CFP format has raised several questions of this nature, and so far, few conclusive answers have emerged on the correct way to go about scheduling. For now, it will be critical that the Longhorns capture a win against the Buckeyes to help make their case for CFP contention in 2026. 

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