Mike Slive manages to distill everything I fear about postseason expansion into a few short sentences.
Slive: Georgia-Alabama was just a terrific game. And one of the things you hope when a team like Georgia plays a team like Alabama and loses close at the end is that the selection committee understands that they are looking at very comparable teams and that they both deserve to be playing for the national championship. And when Alabama goes out and wins (against Notre Dame) the way that they won, it just reinforces the concept. We’ll see how that plays out.
Look, I’m a Georgia fan. That SECCG was a fantastic game and the Dawgs proved they belonged there. But they lost. Call me an idiot for believing so, but that loss should have consequences. If all the game does is punch a ticket for both to compete for a national title, why play it at all? (Yeah, I know.)
And of course, as they expand the playoff field even further it becomes ever easier to validate the inclusion of both division winners. In other words, I think we know how this plays out, Commissioner.
Get The Picture 
I’m with you, Senator. However, what do you do with a team like Florida last year, who would benefit from not playing the extra game? Not fair to UGA or Bama to play an extra game against a top 5 opponent if Florida is going to have a bye to the playoff.
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They shouldn’t go either. Win your conference.
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Not playing in your conference championship should have consequences as well. Florida enjoying a trip to a BCS bowl ahead of the East champ should not be one of them.
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+1
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Like we did following the 2007 season? If you will recall, we went to the sugar without playing in the SEC championship
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There is some merit in what you post. uT was a three loss team heading into the championship game….. Georgia was a 1 loss team. All things being equal last year with Florida. Both one loss teams before the SEC championship. Georgia beat Florida heads up. I think Georgia should have got the nod. In the end I think it worked out fine. UGa wins the east and their bowl….. Florida doesn’t and loses to Louisville. Sweet.
As an aside….. I’m a homer. 😉
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Senator, while I agree with your point, I also believe last year’s SECCG was the exception to the rule. Typically, the loser would be eliminated from future consideration. However, this game was so back and forth and literally came right down to the end with either team being able to win it, so I could justify considering both teams for the playoff. I also think the point about UF raised by the other poster is very valid and something that will be interesting to watch as it plays out.
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“I … believe last year’s SECCG was the exception to the rule. Typically, the loser would be eliminated from future consideration. However, this game was so back and forth and literally came right down to the end with either team being able to win it, so I could justify considering both teams for the playoff.”
BINGO.
~~~
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In a four team playoff, the regular season has to matter. The SEC Championship Game result has to be treated like a playoff and the loser should get left out. I’m as big an SEC homer as there is in the world, but if four teams are getting a shot at the crown then it seems silly for two or more to be from the same conference. The high stakes of the regular season make college football special and that needs to be preserved. The LSU-‘Bama rematch eroded that, and having potential rematches of “championship” games mere weeks after they are played the first time will only further erode what makes our game great.
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Even if they happen to be the two best teams in CFB? With 4 teams, it lately has been almost a certainty that the two best SEC teams would be included, but a foregone conclusion they would be there if it was an 8-game playoff.
The purpose of a playoff is to determine from among those who qualify, the best team in CFB at that time of the season.
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Slive and the SEC had better get used to only the Champion going to the 4 team play-off. The B1G, the Big12-2 and the PAC-12 will not let it happen. With the media giving cover fire the Selection Committee will not take a non-champion SEC team, it matters not the record. That being said UGA should have been in the Sugar and the SEC needs to fix the Division Champ being considered 3rd or 4th in the league.
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