All these high-profile, early-season matchups sure seem like fun.

Looked like Notre Dame players had a blast going into College Station and beating Texas A&M, knocking the Aggies out of the Top 25 in the process. The USC-LSU game was a rollicking affair, other than it left LSU coach Brian Kelly pounding his fist in anger. Boston College even showed mercy on poor, overmatched Florida State.

This weekend’s Texas-Michigan clash is another blockbuster made-for-TV matchup. Both Fox Sports and ESPN will have their Saturday morning pre-game shows on site broadcasting live.

But now that we know the College Football Playoff has expanded to 12 teams, are these early September games still worth it?

Here’s a look at Texas’ future non-conference schedules:

2025

Aug. 30, at Ohio State

Sept. 6, San Jose State

Sept. 13, UTEP

2026

Sept. 5, Texas State

Sept. 12, Ohio State

Sept. 19, UTSA

2027

Sept. 11, Michigan

Sept. 18, UTEP

If you were the athletic director, would you force your football program to walk across a field of land mines if you can make the playoffs just on the strength of a conference schedule alone?

And what’s more, would you play that game at a neutral site, like Las Vegas, Atlanta or Arlington? Would you ask your fans to travel to another city instead of making tens of thousands off a home game?

Where would Texas coach Steve Sarkisian stand on such issues?

“I think one of the challenges of these neutral site games to start the year is what does the rest of your schedule look like,” Sarkisian said. “Ours is unique in that, hey, we played Alabama the last two years. We play Michigan this year. We’re going to Ohio State next year. Ohio State comes here the year after that (in 2026). Michigan comes here the year after that (in 2027). So you're looking out years down the road now.

“All of a sudden, if you want to play one of those neutral site games, I don’t want to go to Columbus next year, go to Georgia next year and then go play somebody in Vegas, too. I mean, at that point, we’re getting a little out of hand.”

RELATED: Why is Texas playing Alabama, Michigan and Ohio State on the road in three straight years? It's all about TV and getting into the SEC early. 

Sarkisian is right about balancing your own strength of schedule. Texas was rewarded by the College Football Playoff selection committee last season by going to Tuscaloosa and winning by 10 at No. 3 Alabama. But that was when only four teams made it into the CFP. Starting this year, 12 teams are in.

Neither Texas nor Michigan will be eliminated from national title contention based on losing Saturday’s game. Both teams still have plenty of time to make up ground and have strong conference seasons in the SEC and Big Ten, respectively. It’s not hard to finish ranked in the top 12 if you are in the conference title hunt.

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte is a firm believer that Longhorns fans want to see these types of matchups, the Texas-Michigan and Texas-Ohio State variety. The school has a national brand, and there are certain expectations associated with that.

But let’s say the SEC switches to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026, something that is more likely than not. The nine-game format would allow Texas to have three permanent rivals (Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Arkansas) while rotating home-and-home sites with the remaining 12 schools.

How does the new Lone Star Showdown work between the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies?

Just like the previous version, a points system will be implemented determined by on-field results over the year

“Who are those nine teams?,” Sarkisian asked. “That’ll depend on if I want to play these other games again.”

Sarkisian wouldn’t exactly be eager to play Ohio State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and, oh let’s say, LSU, Alabama and Tennessee in 2026. And add a neutral site game against another Power Four team? No way.

“You know, that's always the balancing act. That's always the challenge,” Sarkisian said. “Again, you want to challenge your team. You want to put your team in position to prepare for the long haul. You want to expose them to see who can respond to some of these environments that you have to go into.”

Football scheduling is an art. But at least with the 12-team CFP format, you know the stated goal — build a schedule that should get you to the playoffs. That’s all the Longhorns, or any other program, should want to do.

Hopefully, these types of early September matchups don’t fall by the wayside because of it.