Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns are well-acquainted with pre-season buzz. The notion that Texas is overhyped has become a bit of a joke among college football fans, many of whom believe the Longhorns are overrated.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25537043/usa_today_23762195.jpg)
With SEC Media Days now over, pre-season rankings and predictions are making the rounds again. Analysts like Josh Pate have forecasted Texas to win the SEC outright, while former coach Nick Saban feels the Longhorns aren’t yet ready for SEC play. A glance at Twitter and forums reveals the skepticism of SEC fans towards the newcomers.
Critics often cite the 2010 Longhorn collapse and the team’s underperformance compared to pre-season rankings in seven of the last 14 seasons to dismiss Texas’ chances in 2024. However, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian seems unbothered by the noise.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about what other people think,” Sarkisian stated. “It’s not about what we say we’re going to do. It’s about our actions. It’s about the way we actually perform and that’s going to be our focus.”
During SEC Media Days, Sarkisian defended his team, highlighted renewed rivalries with Arkansas and Texas A&M, and shared his thoughts following a College Football Playoff appearance.
Questions persist about the Longhorns, who failed to meet pre-season AP Poll expectations in both of Sarkisian’s first two years. While Sarkisian appreciates the practice, he doesn’t put much stock in projections and rankings.
“I’ll say that I love preseason polls. I love preseason all-conference teams and all-American teams because it gives the college football fan and the pundits stuff to talk about. And it keeps college football at the forefront of what’s going on. And like I said, I think our sport is at an all-time high from a popularity standpoint,” Sarkisian remarked.
But preseason rankings aren’t his focus.
“Where we fall is irrelevant, we have to go play the games, and we have to perform, and we have to work through the adversity that we get faced with, and we gotta rely on depth, and we gotta continue to develop our players as the season goes on,” Sarkisian added.
The Longhorns were voted as the No. 2 team in their new conference for 2024 and have a roster boasting double-digit All-SEC players. Expectations are indeed high for Texas, but neither Sarkisian nor his team seem fazed by them.
