Current SEC conference champ race

[RDU VOL#14]

This expansion of playoffs is silly. If we lose 2 games and miss the playoffs. It's not a crime. The playoff expansion was to make sure the best teams get in. When you get to 8,9,10,11,12.....they were not the best teams. If you get left out, I believe you already had your chance. No reason to cry about it.

It was also about inclusivity. That’s why there are 5 AQ, including the highest rated G5 school. That G5 is basically the sacrificial lamb that will play the second best team from the SEC or B1G. Sankey and the B1G commissioner already see the writing on the wall and are trying to guarantee 4 teams from the SEC and B1G to get in the CFP in 2026.

 

[volfanstuckinga]

Biggest joke of this season but you are right. There could be about five or six 10-2 teams from the SEC and only 3-4 will get in. The rest get the Mayo and Amarillo bowls. CBS projected us into the Music City bowl.

Absolute stupidity if the Big 12 and ACC get more than their champions in. The B1G will get three who barely play each other and load up on cupcakes. Notre Dame gets to weasel in too after arguably the worst loss by a P4 team this season if they beat the barely ranked service academies and riding that A&M win.

I do not blame Sankey for wanting to take a hammer to it and pull the SEC out of this mess. Rumor is 2026 he will make the move if the CFP committee doesn’t yield more guaranteed spots for SEC teams.

12 of the top 20 SOS rankings are occupied by the SEC and we all play each other. The other 8 slots are mostly B1G and like 2 ACC teams. The whole system sucks.

I disagree on the ACC....if both Miami and Clemson are 11-1 I think they both deserve a berth. We can't bitch and moan after losing to Arkansas. If we go 10-2 and don't get in.....that's on US.....

 

[NighthawkVol]

I hate to say this but Florida could do us a lot of favors. They play UGA, Texas, LSU, and Ole Miss. Low chance this UF team suddenly turns it on to beat UGA and Texas, but Florida beating LSU would be huge for us.

Exactly. I think they could beat both LSU and Ole Miss…which likely saves Napier’s job.

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

I disagree on the ACC....if both Miami and Clemson are 11-1 I think they both deserve a berth. We can't bitch and moan after losing to Arkansas. If we go 10-2 and don't get in.....that's on US.....

ACC is a cupcake league for football. The only 3 teams worth a damn from a talent and investment standpoint are FSU, Miami, and Clemson. Outside of those 3, the rest of the conference is a bunch of basketballs schools. The average football talent composite and SOS scores are dismal.

 

[TheVolunteer002]

Losing to Arkansas was inexcusable. If that didn't happen, we could drop one to Georgia and glide into the playoff.
Now, we really need to win every game, including Georgia, so there's nothing left to chance.

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

I disagree on the ACC....if both Miami and Clemson are 11-1 I think they both deserve a berth. We can't bitch and moan after losing to Arkansas. If we go 10-2 and don't get in.....that's on US.....

Another point: Arkansas ranks higher than 2/3s of the ACC and all of the Big 12 in talent.

Yes, the loss is on us and we had no business losing to them, I cannot argue against that. However, the floor of the SEC is WAY higher than the rest of the conferences. We are getting hammered week in and week out by supposed bottom feeders in the SEC who would be upper tier teams in the majority of the P4 conferences. Clempson and Miami get to benefit because they are the big fish surrounded by small fries.

 

[JohnWardForever]

And we have to pull for Bama this weekend. Maybe against LSU too.

Florida could help us out by beating LSU.

You never know, Lsu has some tough Road games, A&M this week will tell a lot. They will beat bama @ home. That means bama has a 3 loss (at least) season. Uga is still trying to figure out how they lost to bama. And Tennessee isn't winning at Athens, not with that Uga D-line and Crowd noise (and they DO pump it in) . So Uga vs Lsu or Txs or A&M for the SEC Championship, (I think A&M beats Lsu Or TXS) So you could conceivable have 4-5 SEC Teams at 10-2, and you have a gigantic mess.

 

[CincinnatiVols]

I think one of the most beneficial things for all these SEC teams is we need some of these other conference Cinderella's to lose. Indiana will probably lose to OSU, If they drop the week before that to Michigan too then they are out. BYU, Miami, Iowa State we need these teams to take a loss so that if/when they lose the conference championship game they don't stay in front of 10-2 SEC teams. Those are the types of teams that will steal an SEC bid.

 

[JohnWardForever]

Losing to Arkansas was inexcusable. If that didn't happen, we could drop one to Georgia and glide into the playoff.
Now, we really need to win every game, including Georgia, so there's nothing left to chance.

Yep that Arkie loss was bad, and right now Uga would be favored by 14 over Tennessee @ Athens. That Defense is for real, and Ut's Oline will get handled. Nico hasn't seen anything like he will at Uga. It's a loss. 10-2 might still get the Vols in.

 

[JohnWardForever]

I think one of the most beneficial things for all these SEC teams is we need some of these other conference Cinderella's to lose. Indiana will probably lose to OSU, If they drop the week before that to Michigan too then they are out. BYU, Miami, Iowa State we need these teams to take a loss so that if/when they lose the conference championship game they don't stay in front of 10-2 SEC teams. Those are the types of teams that will steal an SEC bid.

Indiana will not lose to Michigan, but probably OSU. But Osu better be ready to score....

 

[deatojl]

Indiana will not lose to Michigan, but probably OSU. But Osu better be ready to score....

Indiana could lose at home to Washington this week. Their starting QB just had thumb surgery.

 

[kckempf]

Indiana could lose at home to Washington this week. Their starting QB just had thumb surgery.

Tayven Jackson is the backup. Should be interesting to see if he can get it done, since he couldn't move up the lineup for us.

 

[IndianaVol]

Tayven Jackson is the backup. Should be interesting to see if he can get it done, since he couldn't move up the lineup for us.

I know it was clean up time, but Tayven looked really, really good last week.
Played the entire second half for IU - he's definitely not the same guy that left Tennessee.

 

[General Jack]

The winner of the LSU/A&M game has a very real chance of finishing 7-1 in conference. In any tiebreaker scenario, Texas weak conference schedule works against them, i think. Leaving them out of the CCG puts them in the playoffs at 11-1 and someone is going to have to play them in DKR the first round.

Michigan's over-inflated stature would be used to pump up texas. That and some oil money under the table.

 

[901 Orange]

I thought all u had to do was finish your season in the top 12. The SEC is likely to have 4 teams in the top 12 at seasons end. UGA & Texas are likely locks even with 1 more loss becauseof currentposition. If we only lose to UGA we're probably a lock as well. That leaves A&M, Mizzou, & LSU who could all end up in the top 12.

 

[Volinnooga]

I disagree on the ACC....if both Miami and Clemson are 11-1 I think they both deserve a berth. We can't bitch and moan after losing to Arkansas. If we go 10-2 and don't get in.....that's on US.....

Do you think Miami and Clemson could beat us on a neutral field? I know that's not the way they look at it (or so they say), but I think we'd beat both.

 

[bpalmer28]

Starting to agree with you. Alot of folks saying a 10-2 SEC team is in but there could be like 6 of them that end up 10-2 or better

South Carolina gets Texas A&M and Missouri at home… I think they win both. Just a guess but think A&M and Missouri both finish with 3 losses. LSU and Tennessee both finish 11-1. And the only 2-loss team in the SEC is UGA

 

[bpalmer28]

I thought all u had to do was finish your season in the top 12. The SEC is likely to have 4 teams in the top 12 at seasons end. UGA & Texas are likely locks even with 1 more loss becauseof currentposition. If we only lose to UGA we're probably a lock as well. That leaves A&M, Mizzou, & LSU who could all end up in the top 12.

It’s not that simple. It’s something like the 5 highest ranked group of 5 conference
champions. Highest ranked non-group of 5 champion. And 6 at large I think.

 

[37620VOL]

The SEC feels like the NFL this year. I think NIL has allowed every team to plug holes and add depth. Most of the teams have a solid player at every position so there are no in conference freebies. There's more parity, closer games top to bottom, it's going to be very difficult to run the table in this league.

Coaching and play calling is now more important than ever.

 

[stolitonic]

The winner of the LSU/A&M game has a very real chance of finishing 7-1 in conference. In any tiebreaker scenario, Texas weak conference schedule works against them, i think. Leaving them out of the CCG puts them in the playoffs at 11-1 and someone is going to have to play them in DKR the first round.

If A&M beats LSU and loses to Texas then that would put Texas in the SEC championship due to the head to head would it not.

If A&M loses to LSU and Texas then they will have 3 losses and are out. Texas goes to the CG at 11-1

If A&M loses to LSU but beats Texas then yeah it probably shuts Texas out of the CG but they make the playoffs at 10-2

A&M beats LSU and Texas then yeah they go to the CG at 11-1.

 

[CincinnatiVols]

If A&M beats LSU and loses to Texas then that would put Texas in the SEC championship due to the head to head would it not.

If A&M loses to LSU and Texas then they will have 3 losses and are out. Texas goes to the CG at 11-1

If A&M loses to LSU but beats Texas then yeah it probably shuts Texas out of the CG but they make the playoffs at 10-2

A&M beats LSU and Texas then yeah they go to the CG at 11-1.

Interesting scenerio 3... A&M ends with 1 conference loss and 2 overall but makes the conference champ game. Assuming they lose that game do they get jumped by a 2 loss team from the SEC behind them?

 

[chuckiepoo]

It’s not that simple. It’s something like the 5 highest ranked group of 5 conference
champions. Highest ranked non-group of 5 champion. And 6 at large I think.

Group of Four plus one is Five slots. 7 at-large.

 

[901 Orange]

It’s not that simple. It’s something like the 5 highest ranked group of 5 conference
champions. Highest ranked non-group of 5 champion. And 6 at large I think.

Ok thanks for the clarity, I was thinking there is only 4 power conferences right now plus the highest ranked non-group of 5. That's 5 spots. So I assumed that the 7 remaining spots go to the 7 highest ranked teams. The part that's throwing me off is the highest ranking conference champ part. If you're a top 10 team and lose your conference championship to a team ranked in the 20's does that lower ranked team get an automatic bid??

 

[chuckiepoo]

Ok thanks for the clarity, I was thinking there is only 4 power conferences right now plus the highest ranked non-group of 5. That's 5 spots. So I assumed that the 7 remaining spots go to the next 7 highest ranked teams.

Correct.

 

[temptn]

No way there will be four SEC teams, they have to get in all of those BIG10 teams in.