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SEC AD says 9-game conference schedule ‘makes sense’ if league guaranteed spots in expanded Playoff
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
SEC ADs are at the conference’s annual spring meetings in Destin, and possible expansion of the College Football Playoff from 12 to 14 — or maybe 16 — teams is an obvious topic of conversation.
Along with that is the potential of the conference moving from an 8-game league schedule to 9. Those discussions have gained more prominence, especially amid proposals of the SEC and Big Ten receiving 4 guaranteed bids each in an expanded playoff.
Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts offered his thoughts on the potential of a 9-game league slate, according to Brett McMurphy:
Under the most heavily reported Playoff expansion proposal, along with the SEC and B1G being granted 4 automatic slots each, the ACC and Big 12 would get 2 each, with 1 Group of Five spot and 3 at-large bids.
Other proposals have been floated as it relates to how the automatic spots would be awarded among SEC and B1G teams. One includes a mini-tournament involving the 3rd through 6th-placed teams in each conference playing one another, with the games being held on campus at the higher seed.
That said, the SEC and B1G’s contract with their media partners — ESPN and FOX, respectively — require each conference’s top 2 teams to face each other in a conference championship game.
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.
