Is The College Football Playoff Just The SEC Invitational
Will The Expansion of the CFP open up for more SEC contenders?
Since the inaugural season of the College Football Playoff, an SEC team has never been left out of the top four. Twice in CFP history, two teams from the SEC were selected to compete in the four-team playoff. The SEC has dominated the CFP, winning the National Title six times (only one other conference has multiple championships).
Coming into the 2024-2025 Season, there is a new look for the CFP as it has expanded to a 12-team playoff. The expansion will allow for teams who would normally find themselves on the bubble to get into the playoffs. Based on the scheduling and the number of teams ranked in the top 25, it may allow for almost half the field to be taken up by SEC teams.
According to ESPN, as of today, the SEC has 5 teams ranked in the top 12 in their preseason rankings. If this held for the season, they would have almost half the playoff teams. This was not the purpose of the expansion. The committee wanted to allow for more teams to make the playoffs. The SEC also has 3 teams ranked from 13-25, that could sneak into the top 12 teams, by beating a higher-ranked opponent.
With the addition of Oklahoma and Texas to the conference, this looks to be the time for the SEC to show once again why it is been the best conference in the country. If the SEC can go back and forth beating up on each other, this could result in many teams having only 1 or 2 losses on the season. This would give each of those teams a reasonable claim to a playoff spot.
The new playoff format, which features 12 teams instead of four, will be constructed like this: Seeds one through five will be the Conference Champion from the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, ACC, and PAC 12. This leaves seven spots for the next best teams. For the SEC to have multiple teams in the playoffs they will need their teams to be ranked in the area of one to fifteen.
Realistically, 8 teams from the SEC could make the playoff (SEC champ and seven non-conference champs). This includes Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Missouri, LSU, and Oklahoma. Looking at the teams and schedules, there should be at least 3 SEC teams in the playoffs, with a strong likelihood of 5 being in. These teams are Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss, and Missouri. All of these teams have a few things in common that many believe will have them locked in as a top 12 seed. Those are an elite quarterback, tough and fast defenses, and a head coach who has experience winning and playing in big games.
The SEC has shown it is the best conference in the nation. If they can do that this season, they will be in line to compete for a national title again. There will be plenty of SEC teams that will end up in the CFP.