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Steve Sarkisian makes Texas' College Football Playoff case: "I think we're absolutely a Playoff team."

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook10 hours agojosephcook89

During his postgame press conference, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian made his case for the Longhorns to make the 12-team College Football Playoff.

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Sarkisian put it simply: “I think we’re absolutely a Playoff team.”

“There’s a couple of things in here that to me are really telling stats. We’re the first team since the 2019 national champion LSU team to beat three top-10 ranked teams in the same season during the regular season. Let’s just chew on that for a second. It’s been a lot of great football teams that have played over the last six years but we’re the first team since LSU to beat three top-10 ranked teams in the same season during the regular season.

“I think we have the No. 5 ranked toughest schedule in the country. We played the No. 1, the No. 3, and No. 4 ranked teams in the country. We went on the road to Ohio State in week one and lost to them in a one-score game. We have the ball at the end of the game. We outgained them by nearly 200 yards and no one else has been close to a one-score game against them. I think more importantly, it’s the message that, what do we want to send to the head coaches and athletic directors around the country? You want us to not 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.

“Now when you play five top-10 ranked teams in the regular season, you go 3-2, you beat three of them, and you schedule an Ohio State in out of conference play, I surely don’t think we want to punish us to do that because what are we all going to do? We’re all going to get out of those games just like a lot of other teams in the country have done. They’ve got nice, pretty records right now but they weren’t willing to go play these games out of conference. We’re willing to go play those games. I just hope we don’t get punished for doing that.

“This whole idea that ‘hey, well, you lost to Florida.’ The team that played for the national championship last year lost to Northern Illinois at home. We’re going to punish us but you don’t want to punish them? They were still good enough to go play for a national title.

“I have no doubt in my mind that the team we have in that locker room downstairs is a Playoff football team worthy of an opportunity to play for a national championship.”

Texas awaits the results of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s choices, which will come out after conference championship Saturday in nine days.

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