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Steve Sarkisian stresses importance of SEC Championship in College Football Playoff era

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby:Grant Grubbs•12/08/24•

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Sara Diggins (American-Statesman) / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Saturday, Texas fell 22-19 to Georgia in overtime of the SEC Championship. Despite ending up on the wrong side of the heated showdown, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian didn’t change his tune about the importance of the conference title game.

“I really value this game,” Sarkisian said. “I think this game means a ton to the Southeastern Conference. We joined this conference. I was fortunate enough to be part of this conference as an assistant, coached in it twice. This is a heck of a game. It’s an honor to play in it. It was an honor to play in it today. We didn’t come out on top.

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“Especially the way it’s structured where not everybody gets to play everybody. I think it’s probably the right thing to do, to have a championship game. Now it’s our job to kind of regroup and get ourselves as healthy as we can to go compete in a Playoff.”

Many fans questioned the value of conference championship games this season, wondering if the games were still necessary with conference realignment and the College Football Playoff‘s expansion.

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Even some coaches voiced their concerns, emphasizing that they didn’t want their teams to be punished by the CFP selection committee for making a conference championship and losing.

While the latter concern is yet to be fully addressed, one thing is clear: conference championships are great for the fans. College football junkies enjoyed an action-packed slate of high-level football this weekend, topped off by a down-to-the-wire SEC showdown.

Eight extra spots in the CFP certainly didn’t affect how consequential each game felt. Texas and Georgia battled as if there were a national championship on the line. Thankfully for the Longhorns, there wasn’t.

“We have time,” Sarkisian said. “We essentially have a bye to get ready for that game. We’ll do the best we can. I know our players will from a rehab and recovery standpoint. We’ll find out who we’re playing, put together a plan and go to work.”

Although Texas will still be in the CFP, it will no longer enjoy a first-round bye. Now, there’s nothing for Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns to do but recover and wait for the selection committee to announce their fate.