As the long offseason for college football continues, spring meetings for coaches and certain staff are taking place in Destin, Fla. Auburn Tigers’ head coach Hugh Freeze has made the trip alongside several other coaches and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. A major discussion point is the potential move to nine conference games, according to 247Sports.
This coincides with the College Football Playoff possibly moving to 16 teams soon. Both the SEC and the Big Ten are in favor of this move. The CFP is making a change to format this season to straight seeding while keeping it at 12 teams for 2025. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze hopes that regardless of what happens, the SEC doesn’t beat itself out of playoff spots.
Freeze also thinks that as the format changes, college teams can’t be evaluated the same way as they were in the past. They might have to start looking at records in a similar way to the NFL.
“I honestly don’t care, but the only thing I think is necessary is a re-education of where we truly are,” Freeze said. “The days of teams running the gauntlet two or three years in a row, going 12-0, I just think those days are in the past. And we need to adopt more of the NFL mindset. An SEC team that ends up 8-4 or 9-3, you should have a realistic shot at a playoff berth. You might be playing your best football then.”
A season ago, the SEC only got three teams in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. A handful of teams were left out, despite being on the cusp. One of the factors in making the number of losses some teams had factored into the decision to exclude certain teams. However, the SEC is a gauntlet. Every program in the conference had at least two losses by the end of the conference championship.
Last season, the SEC experienced its first season of having 16 teams within the conference by adding the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns to the conference. With the addition of the two teams, the SEC abolished the longstanding divisions. The two best teams in the conference make the championship game.
As the teams continue to get better, the conference will not only be more competitive, but it will be harder for each individual team to make it to the CFP.
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