Are you sick of reading about NCAA settlements, future salary caps, NIL, and the murky future of SEC football? Yep, thought so.
With less than 100 days before SEC schools begin their 2024 seasons, it’s time to simplify the inaugural expanded 12-team college football playoff.
Generally, it’s good news for a stacked SEC with the addition of Texas (No. 4 in ESPN’s last version of their SP+ rankings) and Oklahoma (No. 14), joining the prohibitive preseason favorite Georgia, the explosive Nick Saban-less Alabama (No. 6) with new head coach Kalen DeBoer, and teams like LSU (No. 10), Ole Miss (No. 8), Missouri (No. 11), Texas A&M (No. 13), and Tennessee (No. 15) close behind looking to crash the playoff party in 2024.
Having said that, there’s still some scenarios that might make SEC fan bases livid.
No. 1 way SEC teams could get screwed - No. 12 seeded SEC team gets bumped for the fifth-highest ranked conference champion
Based on last year’s final College Football Playoff results, Oklahoma, sitting at No. 12, would have been left out over No. 23 Liberty, the Conference USA champion. A scenario like that might be more controversial than when an undefeated, ACC champion Florida St. wasn’t included in the final four over Alabama last season.
It’s easy to see a scenario this upcoming season where LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, Texas A&M, Tennessee, and even Alabama are sweating it out for those final spots to get into the playoffs.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey didn’t hide his opinion on it. “That's the bracket,” he said. “It's not the 12 most highly ranked teams. We've said that from the beginning that the possibility is there when it was first introduced. It's not a surprise. That doesn't mean it's welcome.”
Texas at Texas A&M and Oklahoma at LSU on the final regular season Sat., Nov. 30, look especially juicy.
No. 2 way SEC teams could get screwed - fantastic season but not conference champion
Let’s say Georgia and Texas are widely considered two of the top four teams all season, and it all comes down to an exciting SEC championship game, where Georgia prevails. The Bulldogs get a guaranteed top four spot as the conference winner. The Longhorns only can be as high as No. 5, since the rules stipulate “the four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded Nos. 1-4 and receive a first-round bye.”
And if you didn’t know, Notre Dame can never finish higher than No. 5 since they can’t be a conference champion.
(Also don’t forget. “The 2024 season will be the first year the SEC will play a schedule without divisional competition since 1991. The top two teams in the league standings based on winning percentage will play in the 33rd SEC Football Championship Game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday, December 7.”)
No. 3 way SEC teams could get screwed - too many good teams equals too many losses
The SEC is loaded this season. If you take those weighted preseason rankings mentioned earlier, that’s nine SEC schools in the top 15! With less games, it’s hard to imagine a team making it in with more than two losses. LSU was No. 13 last season at 9-3 in the final college playoff rankings. But again, that would have been two places out because of Liberty.
If anything, it will make for an even more exciting college football season with more SEC schools in the playoff hunt. That’s not to say you might still be going ballistic when your team gets shafted. Giddy-up!
