re: What’s going to be the incentive SEC top 2 to battle in a SECCG

I predict this will be a big issue next year. 3rd place in the SEC or Big10 will be preferable to making the conference championship game.
1. By missing the game the 3rd place team will effectively be guaranteed the bye awarded to the winner. A sure fire bye is way better than playing a top 5 team for a chance at a bye.
2. 3rd place will probably still host a home game (partly because the losers of the championship games inevitably will fall back) against a team at the end of the playoff rankings. Very good chance it’s a less difficult game than the conference championship.
3. The loser of the championship game will be unequivocally worse off than 3rd place. Will have had to play an extra game against an elite team and will probably end up on the road in round one against a tougher opponent.