Mike Elko 'Doesn't Care' About Texas Longhorns Playoff Grievance

As it sits right now, it seems like the Texas Longhorns are going to be on the outside looking in of the College Football Playoff.

It seems like the Longhorns are going to need embarrassing losses from both BYU and Alabama to have a chance at getting into the playoff, but coach Steve Sarkisian has done his best to lobby for his battle-tested and victory-proven squad.

On Wednesday, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko was asked for his thoughts on Sarkisian’s lobbying efforts and he did not hold back in his response.

Mike Elko Does Not Care If Texas Gets In

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko, left, shakes hands with Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian after the game. The Longhorns defeated the Aggies 17-7. at Kyle Field. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

“Uh, I don’t really care (if Texas gets in). No disrespect to Sark, I do like and respect him, but I don’t care what anyone else is doing,” Elko said during Wednesday’s National Signing Day press conference. “I think that when you look at the out-of-conference record for this conference, it speaks volumes about what it means to play in the SEC. I think the hardest challenge that the committee has is identifying the difference between mid-level and low-level teams from conference to conference.”

It is not super surprising that Elko gave the response he did. He has to worry about preparing his own team for a College Football Playoff game while navigating the offensive coordinator position that just opened up in his program.

“I think that’s very challenging, and I think if you hooked anyone (on the CFP committee) up to a lie detector test, they would tell you that regardless of record, when you play teams in this conference, you are challenged week-in and week-out, and that is unique to this conference,” Elko said. ”Home venues, being on the road, atmospheres, crowd size, it’s just unique to this league. And I know a lot of people will say a lot of things because of the conference they now represent, but I don’t think that’s actually what they ever thought if they were in this league.”

Even if the Longhorns are on the outside looking in, Elko believes the committee needs to do a better job of weighing SEC losses against losses from other conferences. He believes the SEC’s out-of-conference records speak for themselves when it comes to the quality of play within the conference, based on his comments.

With the SEC Championship ready to take place on Saturday, it has the opportunity to shake up the final rankings that are set to be released on Sunday and has the potential to put Texas in the CFP.