According to every major sports media outlet, the CFP is expanding to 12 teams. Great news, right? Well, not for everyone. If you’re a fan of a program in any conference other than the SEC, this should worry you.
As of now, the four playoff teams are selected after the conference championships take place, which for the most part, those championships hold a good amount of weight with the committee. Since the playoffs began, we’ve seen some back and forth on which teams deserve to be “in” based on strength of schedule, conference, win/loss record, etc. There are examples in the past where a team that didn’t make it in had a better record than a playoff contender, and their fanbase took to social media to tell the world how they felt “cheated”. However, most intelligent college football fans can clearly see that a Power Five conference schedule is much harder to navigate than one in the MAC, SunBelt, or American. If it wasn’t apparent before last season, the 21-point beating that one-loss Alabama gave to an undefeated Cincinnati should’ve been a clue.
With the playoff expanding to 12, will more teams from the smaller conferences have a chance to make it? Yes. However, it is likely that they will be any more successful? No. Even more important, what does this mean for the other conferences?
More SEC teams.
Now, instead of just one SEC team or two in some cases, the college football playoff will likely host at least 3 SEC teams, most likely 4, in any given season. The expansion of 12 isn’t helping the “little guy” or evening the playing field for the other conference; it’s putting more teams of the best conference in the playoffs. When this new era starts, SEC teams no longer must be concerned about winning the conference or even making it to Atlanta. If your team has double digit wins, you’re “in”.
So, now is the time for fans of SEC teams to celebrate. The college football playoff is expanding and if the SEC didn’t dominate enough before this era, it certainly will now.
One Response
The big 10 will benefit too. If it comes down to strength of schedule, the SEC teams will have to play have to play one good Power 5 team. Not a bad power 5 team either. That with 9 conference games gives you 2 candy games.