Urban Meyer’s pick for best college football roster is certainly a choice

Count Urban Meyer as the latest college football media member to climb aboard the crazy Texas Longhorns hype train.

Despite having not been back in well over a decade now, that is not going to stop Urban Meyer from speaking glowingly about Steve Sarkisian’s Texas football program.

Meyer spoke with Letterman Row’s Tim May about all sorts of things, including who he feels has the best roster in college football. I think two teams that should immediately come to mind are the Georgia Bulldogs and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Other teams like the Michigan Wolverines, the Alabama Crimson Tide and even the Florida State Seminoles would certainly be in consideration.

However, Meyer actually said Texas might have the best roster in all of college football. Once again, Texas gets praise for doing absolutely nothing. While the Longhorns can definitely push for a Big 12 title during its final year in-conference, they have to prove it on the field. No monkey business, and absolutely no touching! We are All Gas, No Brakes when it comes to this hype train.

Here is Meyer’s conversation with May. The Texas two-step comes in at around three minutes in.

Now in year three, what does Sarkisian have to do for Texas to have a successful 2023 season?

Urban Meyer is All Gas, No Brakes in driving the Texas hype train off the rails

Look. I have no issues with pundits like Meyer being bullish on Texas … to a degree. The goal for the Longhorns in their final season in the Big 12 is to get to Arlington, win it and be in position to make the final four-team College Football Playoff. This feels like a 10-2 team with a somewhat decent shot of being a win better than that. Conversely, they could be an 8-4 team once again…

I would be lying to you if I didn’t think Texas was one of about 16 teams who can realistically make the playoff. Unfortunately, I don’t see them being in the upper echelon of six-to-eight teams who can semi-realistically win the whole thing. Those title-contending spots are reserved for programs who have proven their worth, whether that be Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama or whoever.

No doubt about it, Texas has recruited very well under Sarkisian, but haven’t the Longhorns always? That hasn’t been their problem. It has been coaching to some extent, but absolutely player development. Not until Bijan Robinson went No. 8 to my Atlanta Falcons did Texas have a player who went in the first round since I could vote. I know who I am casting my ballot for here.

Not to get political, but I just cannot get on board with any team outside of the SEC for having the best roster in college football in a given year. There are a few exceptions to this. Ohio State recruits at an SEC level. Clemson has at times under Dabo Swinney. Other programs like Oklahoma, Oregon and yes, even Texas, have shown they can win major recruiting battles vs. the big boys.

I just think at this time we can’t microwave this thing in Austin. Sarkisian could be building something special, or he could just be a 7-5 coach like he was at USC and Washington before that. Either way, I am willing to see what he can do over the next few years in Austin. Fixing this wasn’t going to be easy, but it is not like he is going to a place that is so incredibly poor without resources.

Ultimately, Texas probably does have a top-10 roster across the Power Five. That is a wonderful benchmark, but you need to be top-five to win the whole shebang in the current playoff format. From a pure talent perspective, I will still take the likes of Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama over Texas, as well as how many great players are returning to Ann Arbor to suit up for Jim Harbaugh.

I would love nothing more than for Texas to prove me wrong, but they don’t exactly major in that…