As you may have heard, Texas didn’t make this year’s College Football Playoff. But according to Steve Sarkisian, the Longhorns might still wind up with one of this postseason’s brightest spotlights.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the Texas head coach previewed his team’s upcoming matchup with Michigan in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. And while he remains disappointed that the Longhorns didn’t qualify for this year’s CFP, he also stated that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if their New Year’s Eve winds up outrating multiple games in the 12-team tournament for the national title.
“One thing that the Citrus Bowl has been able to do over time is look at the brands, look at the iconic brands that have come and competed in this game year in and year out. And this year’s no different. They’re getting Texas versus Michigan in a prime-time kickoff slot right before the playoffs,” Sarkisian said. “What they’ve been able to hit home runs on is viewership. I’m as excited as anybody to see what does our number look like coming out of this game on the 31st. How many viewers do we have? And I wouldn’t be surprised if we actually outdo viewership of some of these playoff games that were played.”
While we only have a one-year sample to work with, there’s a strong chance the Longhorns and Wolverines make good on Sarkisian’s prediction.
Although games from the College Football Playoff comprised nine of the 2024 season’s 10-most watched games, the first-round matchup between Clemson and Texas ranked 23rd, falling behind several regular-season contests, including Michigan vs. Texas. And that playoff matchup drew a stronger number (8.9 million) than two of this season’s first-round matchups, with the Ole Miss vs. Tulane (6.2 million) and Oregon vs. James Madison (4.4 million) blowouts drawing relative pedestrian numbers on TNT.
Of course, there’s a context to all of these numbers, including the reality that aforementioned first-round games didn’t just feature lower profile G5 programs, but also competition from the NFL. Meanwhile, the Citrus Bowl’s primary opposition will come via two lower profile bowl games in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl (Arizona State vs. Duke) and SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl (Nebraska vs. Utah) in a 3 p.m. ET timeslot that leads right into the CFP quarterfinal Cotton Bowl showdown between Ohio State and Miami (Fla.).
Factor in that the Citrus Bowl will be broadcast on ABC and feature two star quarterbacks in Arch Manning and Bryce Underwood, and it’s a safe bet that it will, in fact, outrate at least two of this year’s playoff games. As for whether Sarkisian was merely expressing excitement regarding his team’s upcoming game or making a point about the Longhorns’ exclusion from the CFP, you can be the judge.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.