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Shane Beamer insists the SEC deserves automatic CFP bids
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Shane Beamer is adamant the SEC is a different beast on the football field. And because of that, the league should receive some amount of automatic bids for the College Football Playoff.
In comments made to Pete Nakos with On3 Sports, Beamer pointed to South Carolina taking down Clemson — in Clemson — as evidence to the strength of SEC football. The Gamecocks tied with 5 other teams for 4th in the SEC while the Tigers won the ACC Championship Game over SMU.
“The fact of the matter is, we beat the ACC champion on their field this year and didn’t get in… I do believe this league is just different than others, and there has to be some consideration,” argued Beamer.
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On one level, it’s not surprising to see Beamer defend his conference or belief in South Carolina. But the issues for South Carolina this season came outside of the game vs. Clemson.
The Gamecocks were blown out by Ole Miss and also lost to Alabama and LSU in the regular season. A disappointing loss to Illinois in the Citrus Bowl also took some of the air out of Shane Beamer and company singing the “we should have been in” tune.
As it relates to automatic bids, it is not a new topic and one that reportedly has been discussed for future Playoff formats. What that looks like — and whether or not South Carolina would have even qualified in an auto-bid system — is an interesting discussion for the time being.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
