Texas coach Steve Sarkisian invokes 'basket weaving' in shot at Ole Miss transfer policies

AlabamaArizonaBYUGeorgiaGeorgia TechHoustonIndianaIowaJames MadisonMiami (FL)MichiganNorth TexasNotre DameOhio StateOklahomaOle MissOregonTexas A&MTexasTexas TechTulaneUSCUtahVanderbiltVirginiaScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsNewsletterRecruitingOddsPicksBest Portal Classes2026 CFB PredictionsEarly Top 25Transfer QB RankingsTexas coach Steve Sarkisian invokes ‘basket weaving’ in shot at Ole Miss transfer policiesSarkisian, who is 48-20 at Texas, weighed in on a range of issues facing college sports in an interview with USA Today. Sam Hodde / Getty Images Share articleIt must be May, the slowest time of year in college football, because SEC coaches have decided to home in on the all-important subject of basket weaving. This started, sort of, when Texas coach Steve Sarkisian took a shot at Ole Miss in a story published Tuesday in USA Today, part of a conversation in which Sarkisian also discussed the tampering allegations against Ole Miss for luring linebacker Luke Ferrelli from Clemson. “At Texas, we will only take 50 percent of a player’s academic credit hours,” Sarkisian said. “You may be a semester from graduating, but you’re going all the way back to 50 percent if you play here and want a degree. But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree.” This, of course, a day after Vanity Fair published Ole Miss-turned-LSU coach Lane Kiffin’s remarks about it being hard to recruit at Ole Miss because of, among other things, the school’s racial history. So it’s open season on Ole Miss. New Florida coach Jon Sumrall decided to avoid that but jump in on the academic rigor argument: Grateful to coach at a top 10 public university that also offers advanced basket weaving! 🐊 https://t.co/eGhYWkETAx — Jon Sumrall (@CoachJonSumrall) May 12, 2026 There are, in fact, summer classes at Florida that are close to basket weaving: Beginning wheel throwing, for example, is described as “teaching the fundamentals of working on a potter’s wheel.” The Florida Museum, part of the University of Florida campus, does in fact highlight baskets woven by Native American tribes, the Seminole and Miccosukee. As for the overall rigor of schools, Sumrall is correct that Florida was ranked No. 7 — in a tie with Sarkisian’s Texas — among public colleges and universities in the most recent US News and World Report rankings. That also makes Florida and Texas the highest ranked public universities in the SEC, and behind only Vanderbilt overall. (Those rankings are often downplayed in academia for their methodology, but no rival has emerged.) Ole Miss, meanwhile, came in at No. 169, tied with fellow SEC schools Alabama and LSU. Here are where all SEC schools rank in those overall rankings, including public and private institutions. Of course, many school administrators will tell you that not only are such rankings flawed but the majors and specialties within the schools are more important. Missouri, for instance, may only be No. 102 but is renowned for its journalism school. Georgia’s business school is one of the prides of that university. Unfortunately, there is no publicly available ranking of how schools measure up in basket weaving. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms