Welp, he’s right about this.
But that’s just the polls. What happens if/when the selection committee goes another way and hints or outright states the eight-game conference schedule was a factor in the decision? Besides Mike Slive’s head exploding, I mean.
I’m not predicting here. Just wondering.
Get The Picture 
The SEC is just now starting to kill each other off..starts big time this weekend and continues through the Egg and Iron Bowls..We’ll see how the polls look then. Georgia may be peaking at the end of the season! We’ll know if it’s true after the WLOCP.
This may be the year we’ve all been dreaming about…and hasn’t it sort of snuck up on us?
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Optimism is a helluva drug.
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If we take Florida down big time, I want to be dealing it!
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I’ll be your biggest junkie.
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You don’t need a ninth conference game as long as you win your non-conference games against power 5 teams. If LSU loses to Wisconsin, UGA loses to Clemson, etc., then the strength of the SEC is in doubt, and if the conferences are viewed on a more even playing field, the 9-game schedule would likely be given more weight. As it stands, a 9-game Big Ten schedule doesn’t hold much weight at all (or at least it shouldn’t) because the Big Ten hasn’t proven to be very competitive versus power 5 teams.
Given college football’s reactionary history, if the selection committee goes against conventional wisdom, the committee will be changed for the next year anyway. I look for the committee to follow closely with the polls. However, if given the chance, I expect them to choose a #5-ranked conference champ over a #4-ranked non-champion just to ensure more conferences are represented.
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My biggest fear.
But if they do, they will have violated what CFP Director Bill Hancock made VERY clear at SEC Media Days. That their #1 task is to pick the 4 BEST teams without prejudice, even if 3 of them came from the same Conference.
I’ll believe it when I see it, so we’ll see.
~~~
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“What happens if/when the selection committee goes another way and hints or outright states the eight-game conference schedule was a factor in the decision?”
It could happen, but it would be a horse-shit conclusion if a Big12 team or Notre Dame were to be selected by that same committee, given they do not have to play a conference championship game — which is the penultimate 9th conference game.
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It isn’t hurting now. What happens next year when Georgia plays its OOC schedule and the regular season basically has Bama and Auburn. No one in the east has any cred right now at all. Win the SEC and I agree that it won’t be an issue. But being a wild card with that schedule? Depends on who the competition for the non Champions spot(s) might be. Miss State hasn’t played anyone outside of the conference. Neither has Ole Miss or Texas A&M. If it comes down to a tie breaker between they Bama and Auburn will have an advantage because of who the played.
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I think you’re giving the selection committee too much credit, Senator. Why should we expect any more intelligence and logical decision making out of this group than we do the Heisman voting?
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SEC is getting one team…the winner of the SECCG…..even if they have 2 losses…
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Unless a circle of death appears (i.e. Ole Miss, Miss State, and Bama) all lose to each other than I just don’t see it. A one loss Bama/Ole Miss/Miss State that doesn’t make the SECCG will get in over a 2 loss Baylor or TCU.. maybe not the same for UGA but will be for the west.
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No one could have predicted that a not so tough OOC sked would ever work against the SEC with @JeffLongUA chairing the Selection Committee. It was thought that @Jeff would #NeverYield but then again #karma
https://twitter.com/@jefflongUA
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We are in no matter what if we take care of business and win out, including SEC Championship game. The only question then is does a SEC west team get in if that happens. if the West champ is undefeated until we beat them, that team has a chance to get in as a one loss team. I do not think a 2 loss SEC west team gets in. The real issue will be if there are 2 one loss SEC west teams, and we beat one in the SEC title game. Does the one loss team that did not play in the Championship game get voted into the playoff? if so, there will be great uproar in Big 10, Big 12 and Pac-10 country.
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The winners of the SEC East and the SEC West DO play a 9th conference game–it’s called the SECCG.
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That is very true. However, normally the SEC team most likely available for the Wildcard is one that doesn’t play in the game. I mean, maybe an unbeaten Miss State or Ole Miss who loses to Georgia in the title game gets in, but I doubt it. I could see UGA going if they win said game, but the loser would likely fall behind Bama if the Tide wins out. They are going to look at Miss State’s and Ole Miss’ OOC scheduling and pick a Bama that has played what appears to be a decent WVU.
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Bob, how would adding a 9th conference game change any of that?
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Take a look at the polls. Unless we get a good jump, we won’t be allowed to rank above ND and Mich St. We fell precipitously with the SC defeat, but their losses, not so much. We have to beat Auburn or the credit will never be given for a fine team and season. Our wins, even w/o Gurley, don’t amount to as much as the media rise given to those two teams. Their schedule leaves them as comfortable as we are to win out. The damage was done to UGA in the rankings by the media beginning two games ago when the “power” teams of Mizzou and Ark played us and most picked those two teams. Now that we have won and their Gurley-dependent guesses were wrong, it’s impossible for them to save face by predicting UGA for the duration.
Delany still has plenty of hope that his hype of the schedule strength will work for him this year. With SEC teams scheduling tougher OOC games each year, this may be Delany’s last chance to influence the committee not to take two SEC teams.
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As bad as the Dawgs loss to USCe looks because of the Cocks fall, in my (jaded) eyes, it’s nothing compared to tOSU losing to the trainwreck that is Va Tech this year.
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The USCe does look bad but UGA lost it on multiple lost FGs on the road in a close game. UGA’s path is clear win out.
If the SEC east wins the SECCG with 2 losses against a 1 loss SECw team, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the 2nd best SECw team get the invite to the playoff.
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So my conclusion: all of the talk about SOS being relevant because of the playoff selection process is total bunk. I don’t see a single reason to believe it’s any more important than it was before.
As far as I can tell the rules are exactly the same: be from a major conference, win as many games as possible regardless of competition. If I’m a coach/AD, I’m keeping my schedule as easy as possible.
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People in the Bigwhatever country are already bitchng about the “perceived” superiority of the SEC…never mind that it’s been proven over and over and over by SEC teams usually beating their teams asses. Same with the “Pac it in tight Ten.”…their big argument? The Alabama LSU reamatch didn’t draw a big enough TV audience….see? It’s going to be about television ratings and including as much of the geographic USA as they can. I have my doubts we’ll see two SEC teams in it. I’ve got little faith in the objectivity of a human panel. Unless they somehow lose another game, Notre Dame is in…I don’t care who they do and don’t play.
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Agreed the B1G didn’t even bother waiting for New Year’s to have their meltdown day this year.
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When was the last time the B1G had a weekend of signature wins? or even a very good Bowl Season?
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Until their guidelines are changed to strictly recommend only Conference Champions, I don’t think the committee will be as motivated to exclude a worthy 2nd SEC team as everyone else seems to think. Letting the best teams play may cause an initial chatter bomb, but having a weak team knocked out early would be a bigger one. No one wants to see Alabama beat Notre Dame again, and no one wants to be blamed for letting it happen. I think they put the best 4 teams in if there isn’t a VERY close 5th, which there very well may be. More worrisome to me is that they are touting their plan to consider “who is the best team RIGHT NOW, including injuries”. It further desecrates the regular season by making the early games less important. And It seems unseemly (unAmerican?) to me that a great team who loses a good player late, but still wins out, should be penalized for that injury. Imagine the righteous fury of whoever was coaching that team.
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The basketball selection committee does exactly that. They will knock a team down due to an injury to a particular player especially in the seeding regardless of the impact on the record and RPI.
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As Al Davis would say, “Just win, baby.” If we keep winning, we won’t have to worry at all about the perception of the SEC East. The committee will have no choice to put in a 1-loss SEC champion that faced the temporary loss of its best player with two road wins, a win over the defending SEC champion and a top 5 Auburn, and a win over the Egg Bowl winner or Alabama in the SECCG.
If we lose to Auburn, we likely get left out as a 2-loss SEC champion due to the USCe loss, which would be looked at as a black spot on the record.
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Actually seems to be a recent move in the direction of every major school scheduling at least one major OOC test. That is to show relative strength of their conference and has nothing to do with the ninth conference game, imo. I am for the 9th conference game in the SEC for the fans’ benefit, not to impress the committee. SEC champ is not going to be left out of a playoff unless the committee wants to have the credibility of whomever prevailed in that playoff challenged. The SEC is the only conference in that position though, and that could change in the future.
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The SEC Champion will always be named as a playoff team as long as it has 1 loss or no losses. How is it better for the SEC to play a 9th conference game, then the SECCG (in reality a 10th conference game for the winners of each division), making it more likely for the SEC Champion to have 2 losses? Of course it’s better for the Big 10–there are only 3 good teams in the Big 10. Same for the ACC. Tell you what, lets make every team in the Big 10 and the ACC DROP 1 conference game and play 1 game per season against an SEC opponent other than Vandy or Kentucky, then see how much Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin like that.
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