The Texas football program, which will be moving from the Big 12 Conference to the SEC in 2024, has a lot to be excited about for the future. But they also have a lot to be excited about right now. And if Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian's recent comments are any indication, the team is embodying that ‘right now' mindset.

Dring an appearance on the Always College Football podcast with former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, Sarkisian said that his Texas football players were unbothered by the 2024 SEC schedule release and that he feels that the team is “on a mission” for the Big 12 Championship in 2023.

“I really feel like our team is on a mission. We’ve been building for this, to win a Big 12 Championship. I felt like we missed an opportunity a year ago to not play for the Big 12 Championship Game because of our own undoing. We made some mistakes in a couple of games that cost us an opportunity to be in that game, and these guys have been on a mission all winter, all spring.”

Sarkisian certainly has a point about missed opportunities from 2022. Texas football, which pushed the then-no. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide to the brink in a September loss, seemed to announce its return to national relevance with that performance.

A 49-0 shellacking of Oklahoma in October did nothing to dissuade pundits from that stance. But as Sarkisian noted, Texas football “made some mistakes”, losing their next three games to Big 12 powers Oklahoma State, Kansas State and TCU, a stretch that ultimately cost them a shot at the Conference title.

So no, it's not particularly surprising that these Longhorns are more focused on 2023 than the massive move to the SEC.

They feel they have something to prove.