What does Steve Sarkisian think of Texas’ position in the SEC preseason poll?

SAN ANTONIO – Looking at the pre-season polls, Steve Sarkisian’s overall stance isn’t all that different from most coaches.

For the head coach of the University of Texas, what matters is what his team does starting August 31 against Colorado State, not the noise that fills the time before fall practice and actual games.

“I do this exercise all the time with the team, and I’ll do it again, I’ll show the preseason poll and the preseason All-SEC team,” Sarkisian said Sunday afternoon at the THSCA Coaching School and Convention. “I’ll probably show four or five headlines of articles about how great we’re supposed to be. Then I’ll show another seven or eight articles, or headlines, or quotes from Coach Saban about how we’re not going to run the SEC as a reminder that people’s opinions of us before we play a game really don’t matter.”

Sarkisian is right. When the SEC released its preseason poll Friday morning, Texas was No. 2 behind favorite Georgia, but that doesn’t matter. No games were decided Friday, including the SEC championship game and the College Football Playoff berths. Preseason polls offer little more than a talking point to kill time until September, but they also offer an exercise in perception.

The Longhorns’ second-place finish in America’s best league offers a glimpse into what the media thinks of Sarkisian’s program, and it’s an indication of how well the media thinks Texas will perform this fall.

“Do I think we have a pretty good team? I definitely do, and I’ve been vocal about that at media days, but at the end of the day, it’s not about what people think, it’s not about what we say we’re going to do. It’s about our actions and the way we execute,” Sarkisian said. “That’s going to be our focus, so that’s pretty much it.

“It’s great for college football, that’s what I’ll say. I love preseason polls, I love preseason, all-conference teams and All-American teams because it gives the college football fan and the pundits something to talk about, and it keeps college football at the forefront of what’s going on. I think our sport is at an all-time high in terms of popularity, and part of it is this preseason stuff, part of it is media days and things like that.”

With Georgia and Texas tied at 1-2, it already casts a bleak light on the Bulldogs’ trip to DKR-Memorial Stadium on Oct. 19. There would be significant obstacles to both being 6-0 for the game, but it’s certainly doable, with such a scenario likely making the game the biggest of the entire regular season in college football.