Kirk Herbstreit: SEC will never get two playoff teams
Alabama and LSU are both in the top 5 of the preseason Associated Press poll. If the only loss between the two teams comes on Nov. 5, could both finish in the playoff committee’s final four?
ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit doesn’t it see happening – ever.
“This will be one of those years where there’s a lot of parity and it’ll come down to who’s healthy and who makes the most of their personnel,” Herbstreit said on a Sunday SportsCenter appearance. “I don’t think the (selection) committee has it in them after 15 weeks of football to vote two teams from one conference. Even if they think they’re in the top four, I don’t see them ever doing that. They’ll be worried about feedback. This might be a year that it might be a valid point, but I don’t think he committee will ever put two teams from one conference in.”
Earlier this offseason, fellow ESPN expert Phil Steele predicted that that the Crimson Tide and Tigers would both make the playoff.
“I went out of the box,” Steele said in June. “This is the third year of the playoffs. Everyone just assumes it will be one team per conference. But I think this year, Alabama and LSU are so loaded that the SEC can get two teams into the playoffs.”
What do you think, Tigers and Tide fans? Could this season play out like 2011 or is the committee too scared to have two SEC teams play for the championship?
Never say never.
The only way bammer and LSU get in the Playoffs is if the SEC gets 3 in… UT is getting in baby!!!
that means that you think that the vols will beat bammer. shut up you hallucinating yank. go eat some corn out of your sisters butthole
No one plays corn hole like that outside Tuscaloosa.
I don’t think it’s ever “likely” to happen but it is possible. For KH to say it’ll never happen even if “the committee thinks 2 SEC tms are among the top 4”, then what’s the use in having a committee to pick the top 4 if they won’t actually do so. I disagree on his premise that it won’t happen due to “pressure” on the committee NOT to do it. It’s just not very likely due all of the factors that need to happen. People said we’d never have a 2 losses tm but on the final weekend, a bunch of tms lost allowing LSU to get in. OSU lost the the ONLY tm that would allow the Tide to leapfrog them. I mean they lost to Iowa-freaking-State!!. It COULD happen but it ain’t likely.
Here’s a scenario….PAC12 champ goes 9-3 or worse. First, they have 6 mediocre tms bunched at the top (USC, Wash, Ore, Stan, AZ, and UCLA). Second they play 9 gms which means an extra loss. Easy to see a 9-3 yr. A 1 loss SEC tm gets in over them.
For ACC, if the Rebs get FSU, Aub gets Clem, and UF also gets FSU, that’ll result in 2 losses for FSU. If they beat Clem, then the Tigers will have 2 losses and of the 4 losses to the top 2 ACC tms, THREE would be from the SEC. A 1 loss SEC tm gets in over them.
I could go on with other 2 confs but this is all that needs to happen to have two 1 loss SEC tms. If you say the committee wouldn’t take them due to “optics” then they’re not serving their purpose. The fact is the committee has stated early on that its purpose is to pick the best 4 regardless of where they play. They do assign extra weight to conf champs so the 2nd SEC tm needs to have a much better resume. I think 11-1 is better than 9-3. It would be a debate between any other 2 loss champ but there would be a conversation which means there is a chance. It’s just not very likely…….
I think they would take a 2 loss ACC champ over a 1 loss SEC that didn’t win their division. One would have just won their conference championship and the other was sitting at home watching their conference championship game on TV. It’s what have you done for me lately, and there would be immense pressure not to include two teams from the same conference.
Yes but you assume the other 1 loss SEC tm failed to reach Atlanta. Say UT beats the Tide to go 11-0 but loses to the a 1 loss LSU or UAT in the SEC Championship. I think the 1 loss tm that plays in Atlanta gets in over a 2 loss ACC champ. Even if not, there would be great debate which means there is a chance.
I think that Kevin might be right. Never say never. What if one is undefeated and one has one loss… to the other? AP has them at 1-2—- This is a possibility, and I think that they could both end up in the CFP.
Good point but remember the AP poll means nothing when selecting the top 4. Neither does any other poll. The members can use whatever tool they wish. They could use a poll as a guide or ignore them all together. They’re biggest factor comes from actually watching the games and seeing who is most dominant. A key factor to watch is “game control”. A 1 loss SEC tm who doesn’t come close to losing any games but loses a close one in Atlanta would be favored over any 2 loss conf champ with 2 bad losses and several close calls. GAME CONTROL will be a huge catch phrase come November.
Their…..
I think the most likely scenario to get two teams in would be for the SECCG to have either both teams with only one loss or one undefeated and the other with one loss after it’s over. That along with a 2 loss champ from another conference could create an opportunity. I don’t think the CFP committee could justify putting a team in that didn’t make its championship game.
I don’t think it should happen, even if both SEC teams are clearly among the four best teams in the country. I’ve always believed that it should be conference champions only. If the playoff expands to eight teams, obviously that changes things.
I think just the opposite. The ONLY way to include all conf champs is if we go to 8. The objective is to pick the top 4. Why take a 4 loss tm over a 1 loss tm simply because it won a weak conf?
I agree with Kirk. I don’t see the SEC having two teams in the playoffs for four reasons:
1. There are only 4 slots to get in 2. They’re trying to make sure that other conferences and independents have a fair chance to be in
3. There can NOT be two teams from the same conference playing each other in the semifinals or even the national title game just like Alabama and LSU in 2011 or how Michigan and Ohio State almost played each other in the 2006 BCS title game. 4. The SEC is the biggest baddest conference in the land for a reason and that’s because the SEC beats up on each other every single week. That’s why there will not be two SEC teams in the playoffs, UNLESS they move it to 8.
The biggest reason it won’t happen this yr is the SEC won’t have two 1 loss tms. It’ll be lucky to have 1 such tm. It’s far more likely that two 2 loss tms will meet in Atlanta than an undefeated tm playing a 1 loss tm.
Ole herbie is still an idiot I see. I bet it happens within five years.
I think if LSU beats BAMA and goes undefeated and the only loss BAMA has is a close one against LSU then their could be both teams in a playoff. You cant throw a one loss BAMA out the playoff they are defending champs. Look what happen before the playoffs came out both LSU and BAMA were in the national title game. And it was the exact similar scenario as I just stated. It definitely could happen!
Not gonna let a team in that did not make the conf. championship game. If the SEC Championship game loser only has one loss and the winner is undefeated, would be the best scenario to get two teams in the CFP.