Until now, the SEC was pushing the idea of giving itself four automatic qualifiers in any future College Football Playoff, but the sport’s most dominant conference may have changed its mind on that after some backlash.
SEC decision makers are now indicating that they do not support a plan to award itself and the Big Ten four auto bids each in the playoff, according to Yahoo Sports.
It appears the conference is now leaning towards the other option on the table, a so-called “5-11” format that features five places reserved for conference champions and 11 at-large bids in a 16-team format chosen by the selection committee.
That would run in line with just about everyone else across college football, including the ACC and Big 12, which would receive just two automatic qualifiers each under the other proposal, an idea those leagues openly called out as clearly unfair.
“I like 16. More access is better for the Big 12, for sure. But I’m also about fairness, and there’s been a lot of conversations out there about AQs and from where I sit, and I know I speak for our coaches and ADs, we want to earn it on the field,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said recently.
“I’m adamant about that. I think a 5-11 format does that. It’s fair. It’s what our fans want. They don’t want an invitational. They want a true playoff system. We have that now.”
One other constituency that pushed back against the four auto bids apparently came from within the conference, as SEC football coaches were of the general opinion that any system of multiple guaranteed spots contradicted the ideal of on-field competition.
The biggest voices inside the SEC who appeared to push back on the auto bids also appear to be its biggest brands, as Georgia and Alabama “were influential during conservations this week over a pivot,” according to the Yahoo report.
But while the SEC administrators moving towards the 5-11 model could swing momentum in that direction, the Big Ten appears to still remains a prominent obstacle.
Decision makers in that conference are still less inclined to adopt the 5-11 format if the SEC plays only eight conference football games on its schedule every year.
The thinking from the Big Ten is that SEC teams would get what amounts to an artificial bump in their win-loss column by playing a perceived pushover team late in the season, while Big Ten schools still have to play a conference opponent.
Perhaps anticipating that belief, the SEC circulated documents and graphics that purport to show the “gauntlet” of its teams’ regular season during its spring meetings.
The documents tried to illustrate the SEC’s strength of schedule by using several metrics, including the Massey Ratings, the SP+ model devised by ESPN analyst Bill Connelly, and other strength of record measurements.
That data amounts to “clear evidence of the rigor of its regular season compared to other schools,” according to the league’s presentation.
Most college football fans may not argue the point, but the Big Ten will, and until there’s a resolution, there likely won’t be agreement on how to structure the College Football Playoff.
But the SEC appears to be moving in one direction.
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