Texas Longhorns football coach Steve Sarkisian made the audacious charge on Thursday night that the Texas Tech Red Raiders have an easy Big 12 schedule and that his reserves might go undefeated. Needless to say, it has elicited a wide response throughout the Lone Star State.
It is not going down well in West Texas, especially in Lubbock. Don Williams, a Red Raiders beat reporter and Texas Tech graduate for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, believes Sarkisian is the incorrect messenger for this message. Williams criticized the Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies for refusing to play the non-conference Power 4 teams in the state, which their SEC counterparts are not doing, and dubbed both SEC Texas teams “lame. “
“On the list of disgusting developments in college sports during the twenty-first century, the unwillingness to face off with longtime rivals ranks among the worst, both arrogant and juvenile. Fans suffer when this occurs, no matter where it occurs. Around here, it’s an insult to football in the state of Texas,” Williams said.
“You’d be mistaken to assume that UT’s hubris or A&M’s dodging are simply SEC issues. Annually, Florida still plays Florida State, Georgia plays Georgia Tech, Kentucky indulges Louisville, and South Carolina and Clemson get down.
Texas and Texas A&M face comparable or better Power 4 opponents than Texas Tech.
Texas A&M has the Arizona State Sun Devils and Louisville Cardinals scheduled for future non-conference Power Four home-and-home series, as well as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this September. Texas will play the Michigan Wolverines and Notre Dame in future non-conference Power 4 home-and-home series, and will meet the Ohio State Buckeyes this September.
With that background, it’s difficult to describe the two SEC teams as “lame,” especially since strength of schedule does not appear to be taken into account when the CFP field is named. Admittedly, Sarkisian’s remarks on the schedule sometimes seem overstated. Complaining about his 9-3 Longhorns not qualifying for the 2025/2026 tournament was most likely a step too far for Sark.
Nonetheless, the Longhorns, in particular, consistently compete with the sport’s biggest names year after year. The Red Raiders were not on the schedule until last year, and the other opponents had already been publicized.
If we do not see Texas Tech or any other Lone Star State university in the SEC in the following decade, we can reconsider the “lame” argument.
