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Steve Sarkisian found himself in the crosshairs of Ole Miss fans last week after suggesting that getting a degree from Texas is much harder than some other schools across the country.
Yes, you may recall that the Texas football coach brought up “basket weaving” classes at Ole Miss, which drew plenty of backlash and jokes from around the country.
Frankly, Sarkisian enticed me to sign up for one of those basket weaving classes, which I’m still going to take next week, because I found the whole conversation intriguing.
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A bad example of Sarkisian, should have said yoga
But on Thursday, while speaking at the Houston Touchdown Club, the Longhorns coach made it a point to say his quote was taken out of context and that he only used Ole Miss because of his relationship with Lane Kiffin, along with current head coach Pete Golding.
“The only reason the Ole Miss thing came up is because two of my best friends were there, Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding,” Sarkisian noted. “So I know when we competed with them that they were able to take kids and then they were able to graduate them. I probably shouldn’t have used basket weaving as my example for the class, okay. Microeconomics, I don’t care what the class is. Yoga, we have yoga at UT.
“That last part was irrelevant. The point I was trying to make is that at UT you have to complete half your degree at the University of Texas. You have to do the 60 hours at UT to get a degree from Texas. At a school like Ole Miss, they can take a class and get a degree. Maybe one class is curve fitting, maybe one class is macroeconomics.”
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But while basket weaving is an interesting topic, there’s a bigger issue brewing right now in college athletics that could have a big impact on what this whole model looks like five years from now.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian celebrates with offensive linemen Trevor Goosby and Brandon Baker after a win over Texas A&M in Austin, Texas on Nov. 28, 2025. (Stephen Spillman/AP)
The SEC and Big Ten continue the talks to break away, which Sarkisian alludes to
One of the biggest issues facing conferences across the country is the absence of safety guards when it comes to school compliance.
In reality, there are currently no rules, judging by the amount of money being spent on rosters across various collegiate sports.
And a good part of that stems from the house settlement that has led to pure chaos around campuses, thanks to a competition between programs to see who can spend the most money trying to win a championship.
One day after Lane Kiffin mess, Steve Sarkisian torches Ole Miss for ‘basket weaving’ classes in Oxford
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey speaks during a roundtable 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 executives from the Power Four conferences, media executives and former coaches. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Clearly, this is one of the reasons college commissioners are asking Congress to agree on some form of legislation that would at least establish a governance system. A perfect example would be the different types of contracts offered to players depending on which state the school you sign with resides in.
“The contracts we can offer our players are different than what you can offer in California, Louisiana or Florida because there are 39 different state laws. We’re not governed by one thing,” Sarkisian noted. “That’s why we’re pushing so hard for federal intervention that we’re fighting to get, so we can monitor the things we have in place.
“Because if not, anytime somebody does something that’s against the rules and for a group that we all signed up for in the NCAA. But when we break the rule, we’re going to run to a judge in our hometown and get an injunction against that rule to get that player eligible. That doesn’t make sense to me. That’s why we haven’t been able to break away from all this talk. everybody, it breaks down so we can manage the rules that are in place.
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Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian makes the Horns Up gesture as he walks into 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 athletics would agree, but some of these presidents and athletic directors need to stop acting like revenue sharing or the NIL came out of nowhere. Take this interesting quote from University of Georgia President Jere Morehead for example.
“If we don’t get federal legislation in my opinion, we’re going to have to take this conference by conference because we can’t allow the Wild West to continue any longer,” Morehead said Thursday. “I’m prepared next week in Destin to be ready to vote on creating an SEC mechanism, SEC rules that we have to do if Congress doesn’t act as they should. We just can’t continue on this current path, we’ve been waiting months and months for Congress to act and it hasn’t happened yet.”
While he may be acting a bit overdramatic, Morehead isn’t entirely wrong. But until these leaders realize that Congress can’t save them all, the conversation will shift to how a conference like the SEC or Big Ten can begin to govern itself.
It sounds a bit tougher than basket weaving, although I’ll be the one to assess that next week.
