‘We Just Don’t Talk About It,’ ‘Just Decided to Put a #1 by Our Name’ — Steve Sarkisian, Texas Fans Downplay Ranking Before Facing Oklahoma

On Saturday morning, all five pickers on ESPN’s College GameDay took the No. 1 Texas Longhorns to beat the Oklahoma Sooners, hours before the Red River Rivalry kicks off in Dallas. Texas is 4-0, while Oklahoma is 2-2 and unranked going into Saturday afternoon’s game at the Cotton Bowl, but does a unanimous opinion make them the top team in the country?

College GameDay Panel Unanimously Picks Texas Over Oklahoma

Guest picker Bryce Young, the former Alabama quarterback who now starts for the Carolina Panthers, joined panelists Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, and Kirk Herbstreit in picking the Longhorns over the Sooners in one of the greatest rivalries in sport. However, Stanford Steve took Oklahoma and the 7.5 points as his superdog pick.

Pro Football Network’s College Football Playoff Meter gives Texas a 78.4% chance to beat Oklahoma. The Longhorns average 33.2 points per game this season, beat Texas State 59-7, and held UTSA to 142 total yards in a 30-6 win.

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“Oklahoma hoping to upset No. 1 Texas in the Red River Rivalry today — something not many believe it can do,” one observer wrote Saturday morning.

Texas Holds No. 1 After Two Narrow Wins as Georgia and Alabama Meet

Texas’ two wins over ranked teams came by one point and three points. On Sept. 12, the Longhorns trailed then-No. 1 Ohio State 23-3 in the third quarter, scored 21 points in the fourth, and won 24-23 on Hollywood Smothers’ 1-yard run with 25 seconds left. Graceson Littleton’s interception of Julian Sayin sealed it.

Two weeks later, Texas won 20-17 at then-No. 14 Tennessee as its defense recorded 10 sacks. Edge rusher Colin Simmons had 5.5 of them, and his PFN Impact Total D Grade of 94.3 this season ranks 3rd of 606 graded and qualified FBS edge defenders.

The offense ran for 61 yards on 36 carries in Knoxville and went 3-of-12 on third down, and Texas was flagged 11 times for 115 yards. Quarterback Arch Manning has thrown for 862 yards and seven touchdowns in four games, and his PFN Impact QBi of 79.1 this season ranks 55th of 165 graded and qualified FBS quarterbacks.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said at his news conference Monday that he had not brought up the ranking with his players in two weeks. “We just don’t talk about it. We focus on what we need to do this week because if we don’t handle what we need to do this week, we won’t be No. 1 next week.”

“There is no ‘best team’ until January,” one Texas fan wrote, adding that the voters “just decided to put a #1 by our name.”

Georgia and Alabama, both 5-0, meet Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. Howard, Saban, and Young picked Alabama, McAfee took Georgia, and Herbstreit made no pick because he is calling the game.

Saban, who won six national titles at Alabama, said on the show that Georgia has dominated every team it has played. “They haven’t played anybody, but they will play somebody tonight, and the Tide will dominate.”

“I believe the winner of tonight’s showdown between Georgia and Alabama should move up to No. 1 in the AP Rankings, regardless of what happens when Texas faces Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry today,” another fan wrote.

Saturday’s Week 6 game in Dallas is the 122nd meeting between Texas and Oklahoma and Sarkisian’s sixth Red River Rivalry. Both teams are coming off a Week 5 bye.

Oklahoma allows 16 points and 238 yards per game this season and leads the SEC by allowing 122.5 passing yards per game.

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PFN’s College Football Playoff Meter gives Texas a 93.4% chance to make the playoff, a figure that rises to 95.6% with a win Saturday and falls to 85.3% with a loss.

Sarkisian said Monday that the game generally comes back to who can run the ball, convert on third down, create turnovers, and take care of the ball. “You get back to the core fundamentals of what the game of football is all about.”

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.