MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Alert the statue makers. Their services would be needed in January, if a college football team navigates this season undefeated.
That’s the way Steve Sarkisian sees it, anyway.
The Texas coach boldly predicted Tuesday that college football might have seen its last undefeated national champion. And in the off-chance that another perfect team emerges, bust out the bronze, Sarkisian says.
Michigan most recently pulled off perfection with its 2023 team. The Wolverines went 15-0, emerging victorious from a four-team College Football Playoff.
Now, with a 12-team playoff in place and a bigger playoff likely on the horizon, national champions play more than 15 games.
This season’s national champion will play a minimum of 16 games. Ohio State captured glory with a 14-2 record last season. The Buckeyes lost twice during the regular season before winning the national championship from the No. 8 seed line.
Ohio State became the first two-loss champion since 2007 LSU. Get used to more of that, says Sarkisian.
“This idea of somebody is going to go 16-0 in college football, man, put a statue up somewhere of that team,” Sarkisian said before the SEC’s spring meetings began here this week, “because I just don’t know if that’s going to happen again.”
Interesting opinion.
Count me among the skeptics, though, that we’ve seen the last of the undefeated national champions. This sport isn’t known for parity. It’s known for a small batch of schools dominating.
Sarkisian himself built a roster that could be poised to do some dominating this year.
Kirby Smart explains why perfection remains possible
Consider Georgia coach Kirby Smart skeptical of Sarkisian’s prediction that we’ve seen the sport’s last undefeated team.
Smart’s 2022 squad went undefeated, one of five teams to achieve the feat during the 10 years of the four-team playoff.
Smart’s thinking goes like this: Unless some framework is put in place to keep a team from outspending everyone else in this pay-for-play era, what’s to stop the emergence of an undefeated super team filled with highly paid players?
“You could end up with some haves and have nots out there,” Smart said, “and ultimately teams could drive prices and go buy a championship with a super team. I think we could see that if there’s not parity. We don’t really know if there’s going to be or not.”
A federal judge is considering whether to approve a legal settlement that would unlock revenue-sharing with athletes. That settlement would cap how much revenue each institution could share with athletes, functioning as something of a salary cap on rosters. However, even in that revenue-sharing landscape, separate NIL deals outside the school framework still could be brokered, allowing a roster to exceed the revenue-sharing cap.
College football’s landscape started evolving after NIL deals launched in 2021. Transfer rules also loosened that year. Those changes made it more difficult for one team – say, Alabama or Georgia – to stockpile a three-deep of all-stars.
“The portal and the lack of the depth” made going undefeated more difficult, Smart acknowledged.
Also, a longer season increases the runway for injuries. Both Texas and Georgia dealt with injuries to their starting quarterbacks last season. Georgia lost in the CFP quarterfinals to Notre Dame while starting a backup quarterback, after Carson Beck injured his elbow in the SEC championship game.
Texas is top candidate to be next undefeated national champion
Sarkisian ranks among the likeliest coaches to produce an undefeated champion within this structure.
The Longhorns possess the necessary ingredients to go undefeated:
∎ A lush bankroll. A handsomely paid roster doesn’t guarantee success, but let’s not kid ourselves, no pauper is winning a title in this pay-for-play model. Ohio State won with the help of spending $20 million to improve its roster. Texas, with its deep war chest, is believed to be among the teams driving up the market price this season.
∎ A good quarterback. Ohio State’s Will Howard peaked at the right time last season and delivered some of his finest performances throughout Ohio State’s four playoff victories. Texas will hand its quarterback reins to Arch Manning. He’s among the preseason favorites for the Heisman Trophy.
∎ A coach (and a school) that attracts talent and develops it. Ohio State’s Ryan Day can recruit and develop. So can Sarkisian. Day entered last season on the shortlist of best coaches without a national championship. Sarkisian heads up that list this season, after Texas’ consecutive trips to the CFP semifinals.
Arch Manning leads a talented Texas team that’s transitioning
Perfection talk aside, it’s evident that Sarkisian likes his roster. Texas must transition to new starters at key positions, including quarterback, but fresh starters doesn’t equate to a youthful roster.
“We’re not necessarily young. We’ve just got some new faces (starting),’ Sarkisian said, ‘guys who have been in our program, who have been working on their craft, who have been developing, and now it’s their opportunity.’
Take Manning, for example. He’s no pup, after two seasons as Quinn Ewers’ backup.
Manning started two games last season while Ewers recovered from an injury, and Sarkisian kept using Manning in select situations after Ewers returned.
The toughest roadblock to Texas achieving perfection probably isn’t the season’s length, but rather the location of its toughest regular-season games.
The Longhorns will play at Ohio State in the season opener and at Georgia in November.
If Manning and the Longhorns beat the Buckeyes at The Horseshoe, the victory would trumpet a message that Texas perfection is possible.
Anyone know any statue makers in Austin?
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
