Should a spot in the College Football Playoff come down to Texas and Alabama, one team has the ultimate trump card.

The Longhorns beat the Crimson Tide 34-24 in Tuscaloosa back on Sept. 9. Both teams are 11-1 heading into their conference championships on Saturday, and would certainly be compared to each other for a playoff spot should they both win.

During an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay leading into his team’s Big 12 championship battle with Oklahoma State on Saturday, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about his team’s playoff resume. While first insisting his team is focused on its game with the Cowboys, he said the Longhorns — whose lone loss came 34-30 to Oklahoma in Dallas on Oct. 7 — have proven their quality throughout the season.

“We’re really focused on winning a Big 12 championship — it’s been a long time coming here at the University of Texas,” said Sarkisian, Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2019-20. “And this being our final year in the Big 12, this has been our focus. When the game is done, we’ll shift our focus to that.

“But hey, I really believe in our resume. I believe in our team. I think the versatility of our team — that we can match up with anybody in the country at the line of scrimmage or the skilled positions. I value the win at Alabama. I know that meant a lot to our team. It gave us a lot of confidence, but I think we’re also finding out the quality of team that Alabama is.”

Texas faces Oklahoma State (9-3) for the Big 12 championship at 11 a.m. in Arlington, Texas, with the game televised by ABC. Alabama faces top-ranked Georgia (12-0) in the SEC title game at 3 p.m. at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with television coverage by CBS.