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Steve Sarkisian found himself in the crosshairs of Ole Miss fans last week after suggesting that getting a degree at Texas was much more difficult than at other schools around the country.
Yes, you may remember the Texas football coach who taught “basket weaving” classes at Ole Miss, which sparked many reactions and jokes across the country.
Honestly, Sarkisian talked me into signing up for one of those basket weaving classes that I’ll be taking again next week because I found the whole conversation intriguing.
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A bad example from Sarkissian, I should have said yoga
But on Thursday, while speaking at the Houston Touchdown Club, the Longhorns coach made a point of saying that his quote was taken out of context and that he only used Ole Miss because of his relationship with Lane Kiffin, as well as current head coach Pete Golding.
“The only reason the Ole Miss thing came up was because two of my best friends were there, Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding,” Sarkisian noted. “So I know when we were competing with them, they were able to take kids, and then they were able to graduate them. I probably shouldn’t have used basket weaving as an example for the course, okay. Microeconomics, I don’t care, whatever the course was. Yoga, we have yoga at UT.
“The last part was irrelevant. The point I was trying to make is that at UT you have to complete half of your degree at the University of Texas. You have to do those 60 hours at UT to get a Texas degree. At a school, like Ole Miss, they can take one course and get a degree. Maybe that course is basket weaving, maybe that course is macroeconomics, I don’t know.”
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But while basket weaving is an interesting topic, there’s a bigger issue going on in college sports right now that could have a major impact on how this model looks five years from now.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian celebrates with offensive linemen Trevor Goosby and Brandon Baker after a victory against Texas A&M in Austin, Texas on November 28, 2025. (Stephen Spillman/AP)
The SEC and Big Ten continue discussions on their separation, as Sarkisian alludes to
One of the biggest issues facing conferences across the country is the lack of guardrails when it comes to schools following the rules.
In reality, there are no rules at the moment, judging by the amount of money spent on teams in different college sports.
And a lot of that stems from House rules that have led to pure chaos around campuses, thanks to a competition between programs over who can spend the most money trying to win a championship.
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SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey speaks during a panel discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House on March 6, 2026, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick looks on. The Trump administration hosted the event titled “Saving College Sports” with leaders from the Power Four conferences, media officials and former coaches. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
This is obviously one of the reasons why college commissioners are imploring Congress to agree on some type of legislation that would establish at least a system of governance. A perfect example would be the different types of contracts offered to players, depending on the state in which the school you sign with resides.
“The contracts we can offer our players are different than what you can offer in California or Louisiana or Florida because there are 39 different state laws. We’re not governed by just one thing,” Sarkisian noted. “That’s why we’re trying so hard to get federal intervention that we’re having a hard time getting, so we can control the things we have in place.
“Because otherwise, any time someone does something that’s against the rules, and for a group that we all signed up to be a part of in the NCAA. But when we break the rule, we want to go before a judge in our hometown and get an injunction against that rule so that player is eligible. That doesn’t make sense to me. That’s why there’s been all this talk about breaking up. It’s not a breakup so we can get away from everyone, it’s a break so we can govern the rules that are in place.
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Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns holds the Horns Up gesture as he enters Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium before the SEC football game against Texas A&M on November 28, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (David Buono/Icon Sportswire)
I think almost everyone in college sports would agree, but some of these presidents and athletic directors need to stop acting like revenue sharing or NIL came out of nowhere. Take for example this interesting quote from University of Georgia President Jere Morehead.
“If we don’t get federal legislation, in my opinion, we’re going to have to go conference by conference, because we can’t allow the Wild West to continue any longer,” Morehead said Thursday. “I’m ready next week in Destin to be ready to vote on creating an SEC mechanism, the SEC rules that we have to follow if Congress doesn’t want to act the way it should. We just can’t continue down this path. We’ve waited months after months for Congress to act and it hasn’t happened yet.”
Although he may be acting a little excessively, Morehead isn’t entirely wrong. But until these leaders realize that Congress can’t save them all, the conversation will turn to how a conference like the SEC or Big Ten can begin to govern itself.
This seems a little more difficult than basket weaving, although I’ll be the judge of that next week.
