Steve Sarkisian Says Nine-Game SEC Schedule Could Hurt Playoff Chances

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said this week that the new nine-game SEC schedule could cost the league when the College Football Playoff committee starts sorting through résumés in December.

Sarkisian told reporters during his weekly media session that all 16 SEC coaches had reservations about adding a ninth conference game. The first was the extra physical toll on rosters that get banged up by midseason. The second was what the committee would do with all the extra losses.

“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?”

The SEC has 16 teams, so the nine-game SEC schedule adds eight conference games every season, and every one of those games sends somebody home with a loss.

“Because here we are last week at the halfway mark of conference play and every team already had a loss,” Sarkisian said. “And there’s really good teams with multiple losses already. So what is it really going to look like when there’s 9-3 SEC teams compared to 10-2 or even 11-1 teams from other conferences?”

Texas has felt the committee’s answer before

Sarkisian has watched this play out up close. Texas went 9-3 last season, finished 13th in the final CFP rankings and watched Alabama and Miami take the last two at-large spots.

After the snub, Sarkisian said the committee did not follow its own principles, and he warned that Texas might rethink its tough nonconference games.

“If we’re not going to value strength of schedule, then surely that’s going to adjust what we do moving forward,” Sarkisian said in December.

The league saw the same thing a year earlier. In 2024, the committee left out three 9-3 SEC teams in Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina, and gave the final at-large spot to 11-2 SMU instead.

The nine-game SEC schedule came before expansion

The SEC approved the ninth league game in August 2025, joining the Big Ten and Big 12, which have played nine for years. The ACC is transitioning to nine: 12 teams play nine league games in 2026, while five play eight. Each SEC team also has to schedule at least one nonconference game against an ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 team, or Notre Dame.

“This format protects rivalries, increases competitive balance, and, paired with our requirement to play an additional Power opponent, ensures SEC teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said when the league approved the change.

Sarkisian said the coaches wanted the extra league game to wait until the playoff grew. The CFP is discussing a possible 24-team field for 2027, which could leave far more room for a 9-3 SEC team if approved.

“To some degree we put the cart before the horse, but that’s OK, we’re all competing our tail off and I think there is some recognition for the level of competition that we’re playing,” Sarkisian said.

LSU coach Lane Kiffin has been even louder about it. The new format sent LSU to Ole Miss and brought Texas A&M to Baton Rouge for the second straight season, and Kiffin did not hide how he felt about it on an SEC teleconference earlier this season.

“So these are the scheduling quirks that come with our awesome move to nine games that has sure looked so great here lately,” Kiffin said.

Texas has no room left

Right now, Texas sits at 5-2 and 2-2 in SEC play after back-to-back 27-24 losses to Oklahoma and Florida and a 34-27 win over Ole Miss last Saturday. An Oct. 27 Polymarket snapshot gave the Longhorns a 51% chance to make the playoff, and the rest of its nine-game SEC schedule runs through Mississippi State, Missouri, LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M.

“At the end of the day you’ve got to handle your business and you’ve got to do your job to put your team in the best position to be successful with an opportunity to extend their season into December and January,” Sarkisian said.

If Texas wins out, the committee will see a 10-2 team with wins over Ohio State, Tennessee and Ole Miss, three opponents with a combined 17-5 record entering this weekend.