Close your eyes for a second.

It’s Thanksgiving 2021. The closing seconds are ticking away on the Egg Bowl. Matt Corral is blowing kisses to the capacity crowd at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, not just because it’s his last Egg Bowl in an Ole Miss uniform. It’s Senior Night, but in this alternate universe, Corral and Co. are smiling big because they know they’re likely going to get at least 1 more game in Oxford.

That’s right — a home Playoff game. At Ole Miss.

Open your eyes because that scenario will be a reality once the Playoff expands to 12. That’s happening by 2026 at the latest. We found that out on Friday. The only question is whether the conference commissioners will vote to abolish the current TV contract and start the 12-team Playoff in 2024 or 2025.

Yes, 2021 Ole Miss would’ve hosted a Playoff game as the No. 8 seed. With the top 4 conference champs set to receive a bye, teams seeded 5-8 will host a 1st round Playoff game. Well, unless those higher seeds choose to have Playoff games at an alternative venue, but who in their right mind would do such a thing?

But as great as it sounds, Friday’s news wasn’t just about Playoff games on a college campus. It was about those second-tier SEC programs entering the Playoff conversation in a way that they never have.

Hello there, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Mizzou, Arkansas, Mississippi State and South Carolina. What’s up A&M?

Welcome to the party, everyone.

Sure, none of y’all have ever won an SEC Championship (at least since the conference title game became a thing). But you know what’s no longer a prerequisite to making the Playoff? Winning an SEC Championship.

Six of 7 of those teams have a top-12 finish in the Playoff era. The lone team in that group of 7 who didn’t accomplish that feat was South Carolina … who had 3 top-10 finishes in the last 3 years of the BCS era.

You get what I’m saying. All of those teams showed relatively recent upside that would translate well to the 12-team Playoff. For all the criticism about the devalued regular season, picture this.

In Week 2, Kentucky-Florida would have Playoff implications. If you’re a preseason Top-25 team like Kentucky, you’re playing September games that are part of the Playoff conversation. Arkansas-Cincinnati would have legitimate Playoff implications instead of just being the most underrated game of Week 1.

Hype videos like this would pack even more punch with the potential Playoff backdrop:

And to be clear, second-tier SEC teams aren’t about to start ripping off national titles. It’s not like Mississippi State is about to go from the team with 1 winning year in SEC play in the 21st century to the team playing for all the marbles. But picture a Playoff game wherein the cowbells are as deafening as they’ve ever been. Who cares if Mike Leach’s chance at reaching a national championship is as likely as him staying on topic for an entire press conference?

That’s fine. We need more teams to at least feel relevant. There’s a reason why playing a 3:30 game on CBS feels significant. Seeing that Playoff logo stamped on Kroger Field would absolutely change how Kentucky football is viewed. Shoot, maybe John Calipari would even call it a football school.

Yeah, I know. Georgia and Alabama are all but guaranteed those Playoff spots. The Kick-6 wouldn’t have hit quite the same way because Alabama’s entire postgame mantra would’ve been “well, we’ve gotta regroup to host a Playoff game” instead of “what in the Harvey Updyke just happened?”

But those first-round byes will still matter. Georgia lost the SEC Championship and it didn’t mean anything for the 4-team Playoff. In the 12-team Playoff, that loss actually would’ve meant UGA would’ve lost out on having a first-round bye because that only goes to the highest-ranked conference champs.

That would’ve been a tough pill to swallow for Georgia after being the No. 1 team all year. Even though it would’ve likely been a significant favorite, it added another 60 minutes against an elite foe late in the season. What if that was someone like Baylor, Oklahoma State or Utah? Or dare I say, what if they had to host an SEC team that they already beat during the regular season? Do you think Kirby Smart wouldn’t be frustrated with having to beat Tennessee or Arkansas again?

Again, perspective is everything with this. If you’re anti-expansion because you don’t want to reward those second-tier SEC (or second-tier Power 5) teams, what’s your biggest gripe? Because the argument that “rivalry game X won’t matter,” ignores why Cincinnati-Arkansas suddenly has Playoff implications. If your argument is that you love the current bowl system, I’ve got news for you. You’ll be more interested in an early-November game with your team fighting for a Playoff berth than you’ll be for the Outback Bowl.

Oh, wait. They don’t even call it the Outback Bowl anymore. It’s the ReliaQuest Bowl.

(I’m not calling it that and you can’t make. Bloomin’ Onion vs. Coconut Shrimp forever.)

You see? The sport is changing. Rapidly. Whether we like it or not. Even the most diehard 4-team Playoff apologist can admit that the sport has become more top-heavy than it’s ever been. Six teams have won Playoff games in the 8 years of the system. New blood doesn’t necessarily mean new title winners. It just means new perspective for teams who need it.

Those second-tier SEC teams have a ceiling. It’s not reaching the 4-team Playoff. Not when Alabama, Georgia or a vintage LSU team with top-5 talent awaits. That barrier to entry no longer exists.

If that didn’t make a handful of SEC programs close their eyes and daydream, well, wake up.

Reality is coming.