RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesAt a time when college football seems so irrevocably divided, SEC football coaches are united in crying about a nine-game conference schedule.
Nothing bands men in headsets together like digesting the reality that they’ll have one fewer cupcake opponent.
Even coaches who used to support a nine-game conference schedule, like Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz , have grown skeptical of it now that it’s here. Drinkwitz told reporters at SEC media days in Tampa, Florida, that coaches are having some buyer’s remorse to the SEC adding an additional league game.
“We’re all saying it,” Drinkwitz said.
They regret it, even before experiencing it or seeing how it’ll play out or how it’ll affect the playoff pursuits of their teams.
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SEC commissioner Greg Sankey wanted this ninth game. He persuaded university presidents and chancellors to approve it. The coaches in Sankey's league didn't want this.
"It will challenge our teams," Sankey said. "It will prepare them for the highest level of competition. It reflects who we are as a conference."
Try telling that to the league's coaches, a profession that specalizes in airing grievances.
"If we keep playing each other, we don’t prove we’re better than anyone else," LSU's Lane Kiffin said from the pulpit at media days, tripling down on his opposition to a ninth SEC game.
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Here's what SEC coaches won't say
SEC coaches would rather play against Southwest Cupcake State than face an extra game against the likes of Kentucky or Mississippi State or Auburn or Florida.
I get it. Wins help job security. Losses hurt job security. That’s easy to understand.
Also, although it’s untrue that the playoff committee doesn’t value strength of schedule and looks only at record — how else to explain 10-3 Alabama getting a bid over 11-2 Brigham Young? — it’s true you’re better off going 12-1 against a meek schedule than 9-3 against a rugged slate.
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But, here’s what SEC coaches won't say: The CFP selection committee respects (and always has respected) the SEC more than any other conference. In two years of the 12-team playoff, the SEC garnered eight bids, the most of any conference.
This ninth conference game will provide another valuable data point for the selection committee and help the committee more effectively determine which teams are the top four or five teams in the SEC.
As long as the playoff continues in this 12-team format, the SEC likely will average about four bids per year. That won’t substantially change whether the conference plays eight or nine conference games.
So, if you’re going to receive about four bids per year, shouldn’t you at least try to ensure you’re getting your four best teams from the conference into the bracket?
That’s what this extra conference game will do. It will boost the chances that the three or four or five SEC teams that earn a bid are actually the three or four or five best teams from the SEC.
Coaches are among the first to complain about the committee, but they don’t want to do the thing that’ll help the committee do its job. That’s playing more relevant games and fewer cupcakes.
Ninth SEC game will add clarity to standings
When the SEC expanded to 16 teams, it initially stayed with an eight-game conference schedule. That meant each team faced only half of its conference peers. That made it difficult to determine an accurate hierarchy. The standings and records were undeniably influenced by a team's schedule draw. An extra conference game won’t eliminate that, but it at least will add some clarity.
The more conference games you play, the more you separate the wheat from the chaff.
Think about it: If every team played 12 cupcakes and no legitimate opponents, the committee would have a tough time determining the best teams from a particular conference. If every team played exclusively conference games, it becomes much easier to determine a league's pecking order.
Short of an SEC breakaway or another pandemic, the SEC isn’t going to play an SEC-only schedule. But the more conference games teams play, the easier it is to determine an accurate hierarchy.
Here’s the other thing most coaches don’t say: A ninth SEC game will enhance the product for the people who pay the bills (and pay the salaries) — that’s the media partners and the fans.
If ESPN wanted more games like Chattanooga vs. Alabama, trust me, there’d be no ninth conference game. Television partners want conference clashes or marquee nonconference battles. They don’t want games that’ll be 31-0 by halftime.
Maybe coaches shouldn’t care about what ESPN wants, but shouldn’t an SEC coach want the four SEC teams that make the playoff to actually be the best four SEC teams? This extra conference game will boost the chances of that happening.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SEC coaches united against nine-game schedule but it helps sort CFP race | Opinion
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