Just minutes after romping past Clemson 42-25 and securing a national title, LSU coach Ed Orgeron was asked when he knew his team was capable of going all the way.

“When we made the third-and-17 against Texas, I felt like we had the players to win a championship,” Orgeron said.

How about that? So Texas made its way onto the national stage after all.

Who would have guessed that after watching his team run the table against the top four ranked teams at the start of the season — Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma — Orgeron would pick perhaps his team’s seventh-most impressive win (Florida and Auburn are in the mix, too) as the turning point?

But in fairness, that’s probably what it was. In case you have forgotten this particular moment on a hot Saturday night in Austin (the same moment in which Texas’ Minister of Culture Matthew McConaughey dropped an F-bomb on national TV), it was indeed third-and-17 at the LSU 39 with the Tigers leading 37-31 and less than three minutes to play. If the Tigers don’t convert, this entire season might have been wildly different for both teams. And if you don’t believe that, here’s what Orgeron said that night after Joe Burrow’s 61-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson put the game away.

“Yeah, thank God. Thank God. ... Just to be honest, we couldn’t stop them," Orgeron said.

Ultimately, the Tigers became the team no one could stop, scoring an NCAA-record 726 points to establish their credentials as one of the greatest of all time. Texas went 8-5.

We are six years into the College Football Playoff and still waiting for the Big 12 to make its championship debut. Of course, Ohio State and Oregon were featured in the first CFP Championship here after the 2014 season and those conferences haven’t factored in a title game since. No one’s really worried about the Big Ten as long as the Buckeyes keep turning out great players, and the Pac-12’s woes aren’t our problem.

While Oklahoma has made four trips to the playoff in six years, only against Georgia — a Rose Bowl matchup that went to double overtime — did the Sooners truly compete. At least they’re going, but they have the same defensive problems much of the rest of the conference has long endured.

It seems strange to ask when Texas is going to actually jump into this mix, but hey, Orgeron opened the floor for the discussion by recalling the potential greatness Tom Herman’s team displayed in September. While they have had a few moments, there never has been any staying power. Herman’s teams win bowl games with regularity, but they’re 22-15 in everything that leads up to Alamo, Sugar or Texas Bowl finish lines.

If you look over the past decade, there’s really no reason to justify a Texas national title discussion over a TCU or Baylor discussion. Until the Longhorns return to owning those teams and serving as the lone figure that stands in the way of Lincoln Riley titles, we’re searching for credibility that isn’t there.

Is there reason to think change is on the way?

If you check the most recent recruiting rankings, the top five contains the usual suspects — Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and LSU. Texas and Oklahoma check in at 9-10. Enough to produce solid teams, one would think, but long shots to rewrite history and lock down a national championship or even play for one.

If you need a villain for keeping the Big 12 from such success (and I say this facetiously), look no further than the Sooners themselves. Until Oklahoma and Georgia sued the NCAA in the 1980s and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in their favor, teams were greatly restricted in the number of TV appearances they could make per season. This meant — in a different world — the best way to see players play was to attend the games and actually see them play. Texas moms and dads encouraged their sons to stay reasonably close to home. Austin seemed like a nice central location.

We live in a different world where virtually all games are televised but the most powerful schools profit the most. And they all dip into the state of Texas for the top prospects. Wide receivers are as likely to envision themselves with Buckeyes on their helmets as Longhorns.

Great coaches can change minds, and you never know where they’re coming from. USC moved on from interim coach Ed Orgeron in 2013, opting instead for Steve Sarkisian. LSU wanted in on the Herman chase in 2016 but decided to ride with Orgeron, who had been once again made interim coach during the season.

The man deserves all the accolades coming his way today. The Big 12 patiently waits its turn to find out what one of those title games is really like.