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Steve Sarkisian found himself in the crosshairs of Ole Miss fans last week after suggesting that earning a degree at Texas is much more difficult than at other schools in the country.
Yes, you may remember the Texas football coach mentioning the “basket weaving” classes at Ole Miss, which generated a lot of reactions and jokes across the country.
Honestly, Sarkisian encouraged me to sign up for one of these basket weaving classes that I’m still taking next week because I found the whole conversation intriguing.
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A bad example of Sarkisian, he should have said yoga
But on Thursday, while speaking at the Houston Touchdown Club, the Longhorns coach made sure to say that 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 said. “So I know when we competed 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 class, okay. Microeconomics, I don’t give a damn, whatever the class is. Yoga, we have yoga at UT.
“That last part was irrelevant. What I was trying to point out 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 degree from Texas. At a school, like Ole Miss, they can take one class and get a degree. Maybe that class is basket weaving, maybe that class is macroeconomics, I don’t know.”
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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 major impact on what this whole model will look 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)
SEC and Big Ten continue talks to separate, as Sarkisian alludes
One of the biggest problems facing conferences across the country centers on the lack of guardrails when it comes to schools following the rules.
There really aren’t any rules at the moment, judging by the amount of money being spent on rosters for different college sports.
And a good part of this is due to the House deal that has led to pure chaos on campuses, thanks to a competition between programs over who can spend the most money trying to win a championship.
One day after Lane Kiffin disaster, Steve Sarkisian burns down Ole Miss for Oxford basket weaving classes
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 “Save College Sports” with leaders from Power Four conferences, media executives and former coaches. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Obviously, this is one of the reasons why university commissioners are imploring Congress to agree to some type of legislation that will at least establish 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 that we can offer our players are different than those that can be offered in California, Louisiana or Florida, because there are 39 different state laws. We are not governed by one thing,” Sarkisian said. “That’s why we’re trying so hard to get federal intervention that we’re having a hard time getting, so we can control these things that we have in place.
“Because if not, every 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 then when we break the rule, we want to go to 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 so much talk about separating. It’s not separating so we can get away from everyone, it’s separating 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 Nov. 28, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (David Buono/Sportswire Icon)
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.
“In my opinion, if we don’t get federal legislation, we’re going to have to take this conference by conference because we can’t let the Wild West 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 follow if Congress is not going to act as it should. We simply cannot continue down this current path. We have waited months after months for Congress to act and it still hasn’t happened.”
While he may be acting a little overdramatic, 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 the Big Ten can begin to govern themselves.
It sounds a little more difficult than basket weaving, although I’ll be the one to judge that next week.
