Steve Sarkisian Raises Possibility of Texas vs. Notre Dame Series Coming to an End

Since the arrival of athletic director Chris Del Conte, the Texas Longhorns have made a habit of scheduling the most elite non-conference competition they possibly can.

After all, as the mantra of Longhorns Athletics states: "The pride and winning tradition of the University of Texas will not be entrusted to the weak or the timid."

In fact, over the last few years, they have faced almost nothing but defending national champions, eventual national champions, and national runners-up, including the LSU Tigers in 2019, Alabama in 2022 and 2023, Michigan in 2024 and 2027, and Ohio State in 2025 and 2026.

The Longhorns are also scheduled to play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who were national runners-up in 2024 and the odds-on favorite to be the preseason No. 1 overall team for this upcoming season, in the 2028 and 2029 campaigns.

But according to Steve Sarkisian, as much as he wants to keep the Irish on the schedule, those matchups could be in jeopardy unless some drastic changes are made.

Steve Sarkisian says Notre Dame matchups could be canceled

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian before the College Football Playoff semifinal against the Ohio State Buckeyes | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Why? Because he wants the give his team the best chance to compete for a championship.

“Honestly, truthfully, I would love to keep Notre Dame on our schedule,” Sarkisian said. ”But I’m not going to do it at the expense of my first responsibility, and that’s to the University of Texas of fielding a great team and putting a team into a position to go win a championship, because that’s my responsibility as the head coach here.”

Obviously, this seems like a reversal in mentality from previous years of non-conference competition, and a bit of a hypocritical stance for the program to take, given their open criticism of scheduling practices by some other universities.

That said, the SEC going to nine conference games certain changes the calculus on that discussion.

As it stands in 2026, the Longhorns have arguably the hardest schedule in the country, with matchups against a likely top-5 Ohio State team, road trips to LSU, Tennessee, Missouri and Texas A&M, home tilts against Ole Miss and Florida, and a neutral-site matchup against Oklahoma.

Moving forward into 2028, the majority of those SEC matchups are still on the table, while in 2029, games against Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina and Vanderbilt are added as replacements for Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri and Florida.

In other words, the schedule doesn't get much easier, and unless they expand the playoff to 16 or 24 teams, it de-incentivizes the idea of keeping a high-profile power matchup in the non-conference slate.

And unless those changes happen, Steve Sarkisian could be forced to make a hard choice.

What needs to change?

“What’s going to happen to the CFP? That’s the hard part,” Sarkisian continued. “Is it going to expand? Are we going to go to 16? Are we going to go to 24? And then, is that maybe going to entice us back into keeping those nonconference games? Because right now, it’s a little bit of a flux.”

Hopefully, that is something that doesn't come into fruition.

The Notre Dame matchups - just like Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, and LSU - are huge for the exposure of the program, great for recruiting, an economic goldmine for the city of Austin, and the fans love them.

But if the ultimate goal of your program is winning a national championship, perhaps a change should be made?

After all, many will argue that Indiana, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Oregon, Alabama, and Georgia proved that scheduling easy can still get you to the playoff, and in Indiana and Ole Miss' case, well beyond.

Then again, Ohio State, Miami, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M also all proved the opposite of that argument. Each of those teams faced a top 15 Power 4 conference matcup in their non-conference. Ohio State played Texas, Texas A&M and Miami both played Notre Dame, and Oklahoma took on Michigan.

Whereas, Texas failed to make the playoff, not because they lost to Ohio State in Week 1, but because they were dismantled by the Florida Gators in Week 6.

To put it simply, had the Longhorns showed up to play and beaten the team they were favored by a touchdown over, the Horns are in the playoff for the third year in a row, and perhaps this conversation isn't even on the table.

So what is the right course of action in this debate? That is up to Steve Sarkisian.

If he wants to put Texas on the easier path to make the playoff and, in turn, give his teams a better shot to win a title, then he should cancel the Notre Dame series.

But if he wants to hold true to the mantra of athletics, he will keep games on the schedule.

and ultimately, that is a business decision he and Del Conte will have to make on their own.

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