Steve Sarkisian explains his approach to handling preseason rankings

Mid-July typically marks the unofficial start of college football as coaches and players across the country take the podiums for their respective conference media days. But it’s also the peak of rankings season with preseason polls coming out for each league.

Preseason polls are a tale as old as the game itself. People across the sport — from reporters to coaches — try to pick how each conference’s standings will shake out. For Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, well, he’s just like the rest of us.

“I love preseason polls as a fan of college football because it gives us as fans of the game something to talk about, something to read about, something to write about. That’s the beauty of it, man,” Sarkisian said. “I remember as a kid, I couldn’t wait for the Sports Illustrated article with their preseason No. 1 on the cover and the top 25 and reading about every team. The preseason polls are synonymous with college football, and I love that side of it.”

As he’s gone through his coaching career, though, Sarkisian understands how important preseason polls really are — or, actually, aren’t.

“I also know being in the fire right now, it really doesn’t matter,” he said. “What we do, ultimately, is what matters.”

Texas was picked to win the Big 12 in the preseason media poll, which came out during Big 12 Media Days. It marks the first time since 2009 the Longhorns found themselves atop the poll as the hype train gets rolling for his year.

Sarkisian isn’t using it as any kind of motivation, though. After all, filling out a preseason poll ballot is anything from educated guesses to throwing darts at the wall. That’s why he knows the important thing for Texas is to prove itself on the field.

“I use it both ways, like I have this year,” Sarkisian said. “I can put up a slide in a team meeting and I can have five articles with headlines of how great we’re supposed to be this fall. And then, right next to it, I can have five articles of we’re going to stink and we’re Texas and they’re going to blow it again. So I can do both. That’s kind of what I do because it really doesn’t matter. That’s what I’m trying to get across to the players.

“What other people think of us, really, is irrelevant. What we do on the field on Saturdays is what ultimately matters and the way we play. That’s the point I try to get across. I’m always fascinated by preseason polls, that guys can predict how good a team’s going to be, but yet never see them practice and never see them play yet. Now, I get after the first few games, we start to get an idea. But preseason polls are interesting.”

Texas will start its quest to defend that ranking Sept. 2 when Rice makes its way to DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.