Josh Heupel on Texas joining SEC: 'There's only one real UT, one right shade of orange'

With Texas joining the SEC, there are going to be two programs now that wear a shade of orange and like to go by the abbreviation ‘UT.’ However, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel thinks it’s pretty clear which school has a proper claim in the debate.

At SEC media days, Heupel declared, “There’s only one real UT.”

The former Oklahoma star paused, thinking about what he wanted to say next. Then, he smiled and doubled down, “Only one right shade of orange.”

In the 2024 schedule that was released, it was announced that Tennessee will play Oklahoma in a conference game. They won’t in 2024, at least, play Texas. So, there will be an interesting game to see Heupel go against his former school, but who the real UT is won’t be decided on the field until at least 2025.

For the Longhorns, this is another reminder that the SEC is going to be a completely different animal than the Big 12, where Texas was traditionally one of the top programs. That status seemingly led to special protections for Texas, like the derogatory “horns down” celebration being penalized. However, once in the SEC beginning in 2024, that won’t be a penalty on face value.

SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid explained, “Unsportsmanlike conduct needs to fit 1 of 3 categories: Is it taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game? There’s a difference between a player giving a signal directly in [the] face of an opponent, as opposed to doing it w/teammates celebrating after a touchdown or on the sideline. To get all that out, every single occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.”

Josh Heupel says the journey to a championship goes through the East

For now, Josh Heupel isn’t focused on Texas. He’s focused on winning the SEC and going to the College Football Playoff. To do that, the Volunteers need to get through the East first. In particular, they’ll need to take on and beat Georgia.

“Real simple for us,” Huepel said during an appearance on SEC Nation. “At the end of the day, you want to play in championship games. For us in ’23, that goes through the East. A lot of work to be put in to put ourselves in a position and accomplish that. Really love what our guys have done to this point of the offseason and looking forward to getting going here with training camp here next week.”