Just for fun, a simulated run of the BCS Rankings (updated through 12/7 games)

Very interesting information Wes, thanks.
Who the last couple of teams to get in will be intriguing. Will the SEC only get 3 slots? Who would you even give a 4th entry to. Looks like the B1G will get 4.

fwiw, ETGator asked me to do an official play-off thread once the teams are set. That should be a lively discussion, looking forward to it.


Top 4 same, IU slips to 10 in latest CFP rankings

 

Indiana would lose to the next half dozen or so teams ranked behind them. The rest looks legit to me. Its hard to say who really deserves the last few spots as tgey all blew it on the field. The top few teams earned their spots and the rest should just count themselves lucky to be included. I hope tge questionable picks like Indiana can make a good showing for themselves because blowouts shouldnt happen if they put the best teams in.

 

Interesting analysis. With the new additions this year, the SEC cannibalized itself this season. Lookout for the SEC to "soften" schedules for the top tier teams in the coming seasons to prevent this. Think Uga schedules in '22 and '23. Too much money on the table for them not to.

 

Indiana at 11-1 is in no matter what happens this weekend, imho.

Ohio St-Tennessee-Indiana are probable locks.

That would only leave one open at-large slot.

Alabama-USCe-Miami? (please not the U as a gift for the acc)

Would SMU at 11-2 get any consideration?

I can’t believe an unworthy Clemson has a chance to sneak in.

 

Look for the SEC office to soften schedules for their favorited teams. The truth is the the boys in Birmingham will never give us a favorable schedule.

 

The best way to do this is to go back the divisions, otherwise the scheduling will look contrived and purposefully done to get more SEC teams in the playoffs. I knew (back then) that BS about teams from the East not playing all the other teams from the West, and vice versa, were just lame excuses to gum-up the system designed to give us this crappy free-for-all schedule.

I still say, NO to the pods schedule system, and no to a conference without divisions. We can divide up the conference into equal divisions. That leaves the schedule committee free to leave the best teams from having to play the best teams from the other side.

Unfortunately, that would require more than an 8 SEC game schedule. Maybe we can get another network to pay for that additional game... or even two more games. We can still protect the best teams even with a 10 game 2 division SEC schedule season. Just a thought.

I know much of the 9 and 10 game talk is a moot point because of the revenue, the Network problem, and the fact that the playoff committee does NOT seem to care about strength of schedule.

One of these days, when strength of schedule matters to the playoffs' committee, we can revisit the adding more SEC games to our schedule, and the SEC can go back to two divisions again.

But for now... it looks like we will simply rely on conference gamesmanship to hide the best teams in our conference from paying each other.

And the fans will suffer watching our teams play crappy an OOC game schedule. Boring...

Bring back the computer strength of schedule rankings and fix this playoffs mess.

 

That's the way I see it as well.....Bama, usc, Miami for the last spot and likely in that order. And the only wild card being SMU losing and maybe joining those 4 as a possibility for the last spot

 

I thought you played 7, with a permanent (UGA) …then switch to the other 7. Or did I miss something?

So 2026/7 would be Bama, Vandy, USCjr, Oklahoma, Mizz, Auburn and Arky. Point being, everyone still has to play everyone in a 4 yr cycle.

 

Let me respectfully push back on this. Texas already had the most favorable schedule you can give an SEC school and couldn't be further "softened". Bama's problem was not that their schedule was too hard. Their problem was that they lost to two bottom-third SEC teams in OU and Vandy. That isn't cannibalization, and there's no schedule fix for that, they just need to not lose those types of games.

With the current setup there are always going to be unbalanced SEC schedules. UGA and Florida got hosed with their schedule this year while teams like Mizzou, Texas, Texas A&M and Tennessee got very favorable conference slates IMO. I wouldn't consider Mizzou and A&M as top tier teams the folks in Birmingham were trying to protect. Those lists are going to be fluid year-to-year; who knew SoCar would be good this year and OU would stink?

 

Right now, there is NO appetite for more than an 8 game SEC schedule, because the playoff committee people are not really considering strength of schedules. So, most of my post is academic.

I feel like the SEC committee will protect the best teams in our conference and the rest of the teams will have a free-for-all to get into the SECCG... if we even decide to keep the SEC Championship Game... I hope we keep it.

There is also the revenue generation part of the scheduling. We get a certain amount from ABC/ESPN, and that's for an 8 game SEC schedule. We are NOT going to give them a 9 game schedule without a better financial deal to go along with it.

 

The SEC announced that 2025 will be a copy of 2024 with locations reversed but I don't think they've confirmed the schedule model for future years. But I'd make the same assumption you are.

 

hoping that:
Oregon destroys Penn State
SMU or Clemson thrashes the other team

Then if Penn State, SMU/Clemson loser and Miami get in there is no reason in the future to even schedule difficult games in the future.
Indiana and Penn states schedule is/was a joke.

SEC is about to get a lot harder now that Gators can beat teams as well -- record alone can't get teams in - Miami should be done and only 1 acc winner should make it in, if Penn State loses, they should be out. I don't even think if Clemson wins, they should get in, they aren't deserving and pray on the week acc teams.

If Georgia loses to Texas, they should be out also, Not sure where I stand on texas losing in the sec title game though.

 

YAY! Yet another game vs TAMU. That'll be 7 games vs TAMU since they joined the Conference. Uga has played them a whole 1 time.

 

That’s the assumption, but nothing has been confirmed out of HQ yet.

 

Seems all good until we have to play the games

 

I have not paid much attention to the playoff rankings. Is Miami out? That would be G-R-E-A-T!

 

Notre Dame won't get a bye through the first round of the playoffs. The teams that qualify for a bye through the first round of the playoffs are the four highest-ranked conference champions.