The SEC is Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud About the CFP

During the SEC Spring meetings in Destin, Florida, the SEC has made its claim known—Commissioner Greg Sankey and the conference want more assurance with the College Football Playoffs.

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Texas A&M Athletic Director Trev Alberts spoke with the media on Tuesday, where he echoed Sankey's sentiment about the College Football Playoffs.

Alabama finished the regular season 9-3 with the 20th-ranked strength of schedule last season. Clemson, Indiana, Arizona State, SMU, and Boise State all had a worse strength of schedule, but made the playoffs over the Crimson Tide. However, Indiana went 11-1 in the regular season, with the lone loss coming in the Hoosiers' only ranked game against Ohio State. Alabama finished the season with three ranked wins against Georgia, LSU, and South Carolina. Despite the schedule discrepancy, the Hoosiers were never in doubt to make the playoffs while Alabama sat on the outside looking in.

Sankey took it as a message for the SEC.

"It's clear that not losing is more important than playing quality opponents," Sankey said to reporters on Tuesday.

While that may not have been the message the CFP Committee was trying to send, it's the message that got sent. Marquee matchups in college football drive ratings and give value to the billion-dollar television contracts that are being sold.

The SEC is slated to play several big matchups on the nonconference schedule once again in 2025. Texas will play Ohio State, Oklahoma will play Michigan, Alabama will play Florida State, and Wisconsin, LSU will play Clemson, among other key games. Should the SEC come out on the wrong side of the matchups, could the conference be punished for losing games, but playing tougher opponents?

Texas A&M Athletic Director Trev Alberts said the quiet part out loud on Tuesday. Alberts told the media that the SEC moving to nine conference games is contingent on a change to the College Football Playoff format.

The SEC wants four automatic qualifying bids in an expanded playoff format, which can go into place after the 2025-26 college football season.

Heather Dinich reported in September 2024 that the SEC and the Big Ten are searching for four automatic qualifying bids for each conference in the expanded playoff format, which is expected to expand to 16 teams once a new format is approved by conference commissioners.

In the 16-team format that is being proposed, the SEC would have gotten Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama into the College Football Playoffs. The Big Ten would have gotten Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State, and Indiana in the playoff field.

Sankey isn't wrong for asking for more bids in the playoffs. 

The SEC ended with seven teams ranked in the final CFP poll last season, the Big Ten ended with five, the ACC got four, and the Big 12 got four teams. If rankings are how we base conference success, and that's been the case, then the SEC is one of the most successful and toughest conferences in college football. Why shouldn't the SEC get the benefit of the doubt?

The conference is tougher than any other in college football. Only six of the last 19 national champions have come from outside the SEC (Ohio State - 2024, Michigan - 2023, Clemson - 2018, Clemson - 2016, Ohio State - 2014, Florida State - 2013). The SEC also has had 209 first-round draft picks since 2000, the most of any conference. If the best players are playing on the best teams in the best conference, shouldn't that conference get the benefit of the doubt when compared to other teams in other conferences?

With the SEC ending the season with more ranked teams than any other conference, it's also a testament to how tough the conference is once again. Why should the SEC move to nine conference games, resulting in more risk of injury and more teams beating up on one another, without assurance that their top four teams (who were all ranked inside the top 12 of the playoff poll) get into the College Football Playoff?

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin proposed another idea for the playoffs. Kiffin told reporters that it should be a 16-team playoff that simply takes the top 16 teams in the country. No automatic bids, no benefits for conference champions, just take the best 16 teams and put them into the playoffs.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.