CBS Sports analysts debate whether an SEC team makes CFP title game in 2026
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Once upon a time, the SEC ending up in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game was a sure bet. In fact, its six title wins are the most among any FBS conference.
Things have changed. After the inaugural playoff final featured Ohio State and Oregon, the SEC was represented eight straight times in the championship game. But the 2025 season marked the third in a row in which it failed to make the final two.
That’s left an opening for the Big Ten, which has hoisted the trophy for three straight seasons. Will things change for the SEC in 2026? Danny Kanell, Chip Patterson, and Bud Elliott from the Cover 3 Podcast debated the issue on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday.
“I’ll say yes. I’ll say they break the streak. I don’t know if they win the game, but I do think they have multiple national championship contenders. I think they get there,” Kanell said.
Elliott disagreed.
“I think everybody else just has much better quarterbacks, right?” he said. “You have Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, Miami, and Notre Dame. I think I’m going to take those quarterbacks over pretty much anything the SEC has, with the exception of … Arch Manning.”
Patterson concurred with Elliott’s sentiment.
“I think that the SEC has more College Football Playoff contenders than anyone. I do not think the SEC has more national championship contenders,” Patterson said. “They could fill that bracket, and then we could see them getting picked off by some of the players you just named.”
We’ll see if the SEC can regain its place atop the college football world or if the B1G can continue its run.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
