Last month, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian sent a buzz across college football with comments that appeared to be aimed at Texas Tech. The remarks were about strength of schedule and he joked the Longhorns’ could “go undefeated” if they played their backups against the slate.

Wednesday, Sarkisian clarified what he meant. He made it clear he wasn’t trying to throw shade at Texas Tech, but was making more of a point about how the College Football Playoff committee views strength of schedule.

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Sarkisian’s remarks generated a response from Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire, who challenged Texas to play Week 1 in Lubbock. Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell also upped the ante. But when it comes to scheduling that matchup, Sarkisian joked Texas’ schedule is hard enough without another potential Top 10 team on the docket.

“It wasn’t a slight against Tech,” Sarkisian said on The Triple Option. “I know Tech’s a good football team. I have no umbrage against that. But their non-conference schedule is what it is. They’re not playing two other really good teams in their conference in BYU and Utah, and the whole thing kind of blew up. Then, Joey’s got to defend his team and then, I’ve got to make another joke to kind of calm the waters.

“It is what it is. Believe it, I’ve got plenty enough of a tough schedule that I think about anybody in our country has. I don’t need to add another Top 10-ranked team to our schedule right now.”

As for whether he spoke with McGuire after the remarks went viral, Sarkisian said the two have joked about the situation over text message. In fact, UTSA coach Jeff Traylor is part of the text chain. Sarkisian also made it clear how much he respects the work McGuire has done at Texas Tech.

“We talked about it, jokingly, oddly enough,” Sarkisian said. “And it’s still going. Now, Jeff Traylor’s in the text because we’re all friends and we’ve got the Texas High School Association coaches school coming up here in about three or four weeks. At the end of the day, a ton of respect for Tech and the job Joey’s doing.”

Steve Sarkisian: 9-3 is ‘Mendoza Line’ for CFP

Steve Sarkisian also reiterated his broader point was about the differences in schedule strength across college football. He has addressed the topic throughout the offseason after Texas missed the College Football Playoff a year ago with a 9-3 record, despite playing Ohio State on the road to open the season.

While looking at the first two years of the 12-team CFP, Sarkisian called the 9-win mark the “Mendoza Line,” referring to a .250 batting average in baseball. That’s why he’s curious to see if a 9-3 program can make it into the bracket in the future.

“Again, I was more speaking to the inequities of scheduling,” Sarkisian said. “I look at our schedule, I think we’re playing eight or nine preseason Top-25 teams. And it really went to last year where we played five Top 10-ranked teams in the regular season. We won three of those games. We were the first team to do that since LSU in 2019 with Joe Burrow. Granted, we’re playing an SEC schedule, we’re playing Ohio State out of conference. So those games get challenging.

“Now, this year in the SEC, we added a ninth conference game and we’re playing Ohio State again. More of my concern is how is the CFP committee going to acknowledge that and acknowledge the schedules that people are playing? Where does 9-3 fit? Because for two years now, no 9-3 team has made the College Football Playoff. 10-2’s kind of that Mendoza Line. It’s going to be interesting to see if 9-3 coming out of the SEC or the Big Ten – there’s some tough schedules in the Big Ten this year, too – is going to make the CFP or not.”