Steve Sarkisian makes case SEC schedule hurts SEC teams

The Texas Longhorns are in the middle of a very tough stretch which other people might just call their schedule. The SEC started a nine-game conference schedule this season meaning they lost one cupcake and replaced it with a game against a team from what they obviously feel is the best conference in college football. Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian is not enjoying the change and joined Lane Kiffin in voicing his displeasure with coaching an SEC team that has to play a schedule rife with other SEC teams. While Kiffin wants to continue to expand the College Football Playoff so that more SEC schools to make things right, Sarkisian just hopes the playoff committee considers how tough it is for these teams. MORE: One glaring matchup problem Georgia can’t hide against Florida Via On3 : “I think the other reservation about the ninth game was that’s eight more losses for our conference,” Sarkisian said. “Any way you slice it, it’s eight more losses. So if you are fortunate enough to be part of that discussion from the committee, how much is the committee going to value one more conference game in the SEC, right? And what does that look like?” Sarkisian also made the case that a nine-game SEC schedule is more dangerous than the old schedule. Just look at all the injured players. MORE: Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian part of unfortunate history with Saturday’s loss “That’s one more game of the physical pounding that this league takes its toll on you with, right? So we all want to be at our best. We all want to be as healthy as we can be, we all have aspirations of making the playoff. And you want to be at your best if you can make the playoff and have a full roster available. We’ve all, I mean we’re no different than a lot of the other teams, we’ve all suffered some pretty significant injuries along the way.” The SEC was a 10-team league from 1932 to 1991 when Arkansas and South Carolina joined. In 2012 they expanded again and then two years ago Texas and Oklahoma joined the conference. If Sarkisian has concerns about playing a full SEC schedule, maybe he should have voiced them before the school joined the SEC? The Longhorns made the four-team College Football Playoff in 2023. The school made the BCS National Championship game in 2009. They won it all in 2005. Texas could have easily avoided the toll of a nine-game SEC schedule by staying in the Big 12. Instead they chased the money and joined the SEC where they are expected to play SEC teams. Somebody has to pay for it. — Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter —