The SEC has 16 teams and no divisions in the 2024 season, which prompts an easy question.
What happens if there is a tie? The conference announced those tie-breaking procedures on Wednesday ahead of the 2024 college football season.
It is a major shake-up for the conference, which had two divisions since 1991.
How do we break a tie in the SEC now? Let's take a step-by-step look.
Why are there new tie-breakers in the SEC?
The SEC added Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 for the 2024 season, which increased the league membership to 16. The conference – following a model by the other three Power 4 conferences – also will not have divisions in 2024. That means the two teams with the best records in conference play will meet in the SEC championship game in Atlanta on Dec. 7.
SCE tie-breaker rules for 2024 season
The SEC will use six potential tie-breakers for the 2024 season in this order until the tie is broken:
Step 1: Head-to-head competition: This is the easiest tie-beaker. Did Team A beat Team B?
Step 2: Record vs. all common conference opponents.
Step 3: Record against highest (best) placed common conference opponent in the conference standings, and proceeding through the conference standings among tied teams.
Step 4: Cumulative conference winning percentages of all conference opponents among tied teams.
Step 5: Capped relative total scoring margin vs. all conference opponents among the tied teams.
Step 6: Random draw.
Who goes to the SEC championship game?
This is what everybody cares about the most. Per the conference, if the regular season determines a clear conference champion and two or more teams are tied for second place, then the conference champion will be the home team. Tie-breaking procedures will be used to determine the opponent.
If two teams are tied for first place, then those tie-breaking procedures will be used to determine the home team.
