A few days ago Pete Thamel wrote...
One idea certain to be discussed by SEC officials in Destin is the notion of the SEC creating, running and profiting from its own intra-SEC postseason. The most obvious model is an eight-team one, but there are others that will be discussed.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey stressed that no seismic change is imminent. But he did mention that an SEC-only playoff, in a variety of forms, was among the nearly 40 different models that SEC officials discussed at their fall meetings...
Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin echoed that notion to ESPN: "We have an incredibly strong league, one that will be even stronger once Oklahoma and Texas join. The focus should be on how we as a league use that strength to further position the SEC as we face new realities. Commissioner Sankey has encouraged our athletic directors to think creatively, and an SEC-only playoff is a different idea that we should absolutely consider an option."
He went on to conjecture about what that might look like.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... g-meetings
Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution riffed on that idea in a Sunday column... he says this is Sankey and the SEC threatening to flex its mighty muscle...
What we’re hearing now is the SEC reminding us that it’s the only league that matters. Say the conference, come 2026, opted to stage an eight-team intraleague playoff: It could include Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Auburn and Florida. It wouldn’t be an all-encompassing field of football excellence, but even if they banded together, the other four Power 5 leagues couldn’t match it.
His whole column is worth reading...
Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: An SEC-only playoff? Probably won’t happen, but it could
https://www.ajc.com/sports/mark-bradley ... HNCPOOTAA/
Could the SEC create its own postseason playoff?
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