Greg Sankey excited for Texas, SEC to play 'underdog' role vs. Ohio State in College Football Playoff

According to FanDuel, Texas is a 5.5-point underdog against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday evening. Alas, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I ran into SEC Commissioner [Greg Sankey] on the Texas sideline,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel wrote on X. “‘I relish being the underdog again,’ he said with a smile. ‘It’s refreshing. We enjoy being under-estimated.'”

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The Longhorns are an underdog for a reason. Ohio State looked like the best team in the country last week in its 41-21 blowout win over No. 1 overall seed Oregon. The Buckeyes’ offense steamrolled Oregon’s defense, racking up 500 total yards.

OSU freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith gave Oregon defenders headaches, finishing the game with seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns.

The Buckeyes were also successful in the ground game. Running back TreVeyon Henderson led the rushing attack with eight carries for 94 yards and two scores. The 20-point win was the Buckeyes’ largest margin of victory over a top-ranked team in program history.

Despite Ohio State’s impressive showing against Oregon, Texas is more than capable of defeating the Buckeyes. Of course, the Longhorns will have to play better than they did in their 39-31 double-overtime win over Arizona State last Wednesday.

While Texas looked formidable early, it faltered in the second half, allowing the Sun Devils to outscore them 21-7 in the third and fourth quarters. Discipline was particularly an issue for the Longhorns, who committed 10 penalties, knocking them back 67 total yards.

Earlier this week, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt weighed in on the impending showdown between OSU and Texas.

“Even though this game is in Dallas, I don’t see this Ohio State team taking their foot off the gas,” Klatt said. “If we’re being really honest, the back half of the year, Texas has not quite looked like their full self, and it’s going to take their full self. They’re going to have to win the first quarter to keep the crowd engaged in Dallas and not allow the Buckeyes to just run off and hide.

“They have to run the football. There’s a lot of things. The dominoes that have to fall over for Texas are, to me, just too many. Whereas Ohio State, they’ve got a lot of paths to victory here. Steve Sarkisian is right, Ohio State is playing the best football of anybody in the country. They’ve got a great roster. And if they play like that at all, they should win this game.”

Sankey and the Longhorns can consider Klatt just another doubter to prove wrong. Texas and Ohio State will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN. The winner will advance to the national championship to face off against Notre Dame.