SEC 3-Loss Teams & CFP Consideration

**Texas Coach Sarkisian Champions Three-Loss SEC Teams for Playoff Spots, Citing Strength of Schedule**

**AUSTIN, TX – November 7, 2023** – As the College Football Playoff race intensified in late 2023, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian articulated a compelling, and somewhat provocative, argument for why a three-loss team, particularly one emerging from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), should be firmly in the national championship conversation. His comments, made around November 7th, challenged the conventional wisdom of relying solely on win-loss records and underscored the increasing importance of strength of schedule.

At the time of his remarks, Sarkisian’s own Texas Longhorns stood at 6-3, with losses to then-rival Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry and to Kansas State. He emphasized that the sheer competitive intensity of an SEC-level schedule lends a different weight to each loss, suggesting that not all defeats are created equal.

“What if there’s a three-loss team coming out of our league that’s maybe better than an undefeated or one-loss team from a lesser league?” Sarkisian posed, driving home his core point. He specifically cited other multi-loss SEC programs like Alabama, LSU, and Ole Miss as examples of formidable squads whose records, despite containing multiple blemishes, still reflect their inherent strength due to the grueling gauntlet of their opponents.

Sarkisian’s argument centered on a nuanced evaluation beyond mere statistics, advocating for the playoff committee to delve deeper into a team’s path to its record. The context of his remarks was particularly relevant for Texas, which was then preparing for its official move to the SEC in 2024. The Longhorns would soon be experiencing those challenging schedules firsthand, making Sarkisian’s appeal for a holistic evaluation of teams a forward-looking statement on their future in the league.

His comments foreshadowed much of the debate that would define the final weeks of the 2023 season, where strength of schedule and “quality losses” became key talking points. Ultimately, Sarkisian’s own Longhorns defied his initial multi-loss scenario, finishing the 2023 regular season with a 12-1 record, a Big 12 Championship, and earning the No. 3 seed in the four-team College Football Playoff. This outcome, ironically, served as a strong validation of the “strength of schedule” principle he championed, albeit with his own team as a top contender rather than a multi-loss longshot.

For the 2023 season, the College Football Playoff committee ultimately selected undefeated Michigan, one-loss Washington, one-loss Texas, and two-loss SEC champion Alabama for the four-team field. The inclusion of two-loss Alabama, a team that had lost to Sarkisian’s Texas earlier in the season, further underscored the committee’s willingness to consider conference championship and strength of schedule over a pristine win-loss record, particularly from the SEC. LSU finished 9-3, while Ole Miss ended with a 10-2 record.

Looking ahead, Sarkisian’s argument takes on even greater significance with the expansion of the College Football Playoff to a 12-team format beginning in the 2024 season. Under the new structure, which is set to feature five automatic bids for conference champions and seven at-large selections, the door for multiple-loss teams to compete for a national title will be significantly wider. A three-loss, or even four-loss, team from a top conference like the SEC could conceivably earn an at-large bid or even a high seed if their schedule strength and key wins outweigh their defeats.

The discussion initiated by Coach Sarkisian around recognizing the true caliber of teams, irrespective of a few losses against elite competition, is poised to become an even more critical element of playoff selection criteria in the expanded era of college football.