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Thoughts on the conference having play-in games for the 4 automatic qualifier spots?

Posted on 5/23/25 at 3:29 pm
Posted by TideSaint
Hill Country
Member since Sep 2008
79645 posts
Posted on 5/23/25 at 3:29 pm
Sirius XM College Sports Radio had a guy on a little while ago who mentioned the SEC is discussing play-in games for the 4 automatic qualifier spots when the CFP jumps to 16 teams in 2026.

During the weekend of the SEC Championship Game the top 2 teams will play each other for the title as usual.

There would then be 2 additional games that weekend pitting the 3rd ranked team versus the 6th ranked team and the 4th ranked team versus the 5th.

The winner and loser of the title game automatically qualify and the winners of the other 2 games would get in.

Thoughts?
Posted by TriStateAreaFootball
Member since Dec 2024
1064 posts
Posted on 5/23/25 at 3:43 pm to
My thoughts are that this idea is retarded.

If more games is the only way forward, have a conference tournament and play a crossover "Collegiate Super Bowl" with the Big-Ten. Declare that school the National Champion.





Or better yet, just go back to the BCS.
This post was edited on 5/23/25 at 3:45 pm
Posted by TideSaint
Hill Country
Member since Sep 2008
79645 posts
Posted on 5/23/25 at 3:48 pm to
quote:

Or better yet, just go back to the BCS.


I'd prefer to go back to 4 teams but use the BCS formula to determine the rankings.
Posted by anc
Member since Nov 2012
19629 posts
Posted on 5/23/25 at 4:10 pm to
If they go to a format where 4 teams are auto selected from the B1G and SEC, I really like this format. The losers of the 3-6 and 4-5 games, which would be played on campus (what an environment), would still be eligible for one of the three at-large spots.

In this discussed format, the bids would be:

4 SEC
4 B1G
2 Big 12
2 ACC
1 G5
3 at-large

In 2024, the B1G and SEC games would have been:

South Carolina at Tennessee
LSU at Alabama

Interestingly, Ole Miss would have missed the play-in game but been in the hunt for an at-large.

Illinois at Indiana
Iowa at Ohio State

Illinois would have beaten Indiana and taken a spot.

SMU and Clemson would have gotten the ACC bids
Arizona State and Iowa State would have gotten the Big 12 bids
Boise would have gotten the G5 bid
Notre Dame would have gotten an at-large bid

That would have left two at-large bids. It would have been Miami and Ole Miss
Posted by n64ra
Member since Jul 2024
1479 posts
Posted on 5/23/25 at 4:27 pm to
quote:

There would then be 2 additional games that weekend pitting the 3rd ranked team versus the 6th ranked team and the 4th ranked team versus the 5th.

The winner and loser of the title game automatically qualify and the winners of the other 2 games would get in.



Dumb. Sounds like the SEC wants a conference tournament in football, just like (nearly?) every other sport. That would be dumb too, but better than 4 v 5 for one game and 3 v 6 for one game.
This post was edited on 5/23/25 at 4:28 pm
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