Sarkisian joins rare group after Missouri win

Steve Sarkisian joined six national championship-winning coaches who have defeated at least four AP-ranked opponents in four consecutive seasons after No. 7 Texas beat No. 18 Missouri 34-20.

The group includes Sarkisian’s former mentors, Nick Saban and Pete Carroll, along with Bobby Bowden, Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney and Larry Coker. Each of the other six coaches won at least one national championship, according to the historical data cited by On3 Texas.

The Missouri result also gave Sarkisian six consecutive wins against ranked opponents. That is the longest active streak in the FBS and Texas’ longest since Mack Brown won seven straight from 2004-05.

Texas is 4-0 against ranked teams this season and 3-2 against unranked opponents. The Longhorns had not started 4-0 against ranked competition since 2005.

Texas and Ohio State are the only teams with two road wins over ranked opponents this season, and Sarkisian has seven ranked road victories during his Texas tenure. According to the cited statistics, 2024 and 2026 are the program’s only seasons with multiple ranked road wins since 1983.

Mistakes and inconsistency drew criticism during close games and losses. Across four seasons, Sarkisian’s teams have repeatedly beaten ranked opponents, matching a record previously reached by six coaches with national titles.

Why it matters

Sarkisian is the seventh coach since the AP Poll began in 1936 to beat at least four ranked opponents in four straight seasons. The other six coaches in that group each won at least one national championship.