Steve Sarkisian Questions If CFB Will Ever Have 'Undefeated National Champion Again'

There was a time in college football where even one loss would sink a team's national championship hopes, but that is no longer the case with an expanded College Football Playoff and more difficult superconferences.

And Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian believes the age of undefeated champions may be a thing of the past.

"I don't know if we'll ever see an undefeated national champion again," he said Tuesday, per Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.

Sarkisian knows just how difficult navigating a schedule in today's college football landscape can be now that Texas is in the SEC.

The SEC and Big Ten are loaded with powerhouse programs, especially after Texas and Oklahoma joined the former and Oregon, USC, Washington and UCLA joined the latter. Most of the blueblood programs in the sport are now in the two conferences, which means teams in those leagues will face far more daunting slates.

Last year was the first year for the 12-team expanded CFP field, and top-seeded Oregon had an opportunity to be an undefeated national champion after navigating the regular season and Big Ten championship game without a setback.

However, Ohio State blew out the Ducks in the quarterfinals on the way to the national championship.

That the two-loss Buckeyes were the team to win the first national title in the 12-team field underscores just how difficult it will be to go undefeated. More teams in the field means the elite programs now have more room for error during the regular season.

That will mean more two-loss Georgias, Ohio States, Alabamas and the like in the field. And those teams typically recruit at a higher level than other programs and will have a talent advantage in the playoff matchups.

Ohio State used that talent advantage to steamroll its way to the title last season. It trailed for approximately six total minutes across four CFP games, one of which was a victory over Sarkisian's Longhorns.

Texas and Ohio State will face each other in a rematch to start the 2025 campaign in a heavyweight showdown that would have meant even more before the expanded playoff. Now the loser of that game will still have the opportunity to turn the rest of the season around and perhaps earn a rematch in the CFP.

And to hear Sarkisian tell it, the team that lifts the trophy at the end of the season likely won't be undefeated.