The SEC this year moves to nine conference games, a large shift that will necessarily impact win-loss records and takes away one of their biggest advantages over the Big Ten or other nine-game conferences.As a result, at SEC media days recently, several coaches and even conference commissioner Greg Sankey started their promotional and excuse campaign for the College Football Playoff.Despite not reaching the National Championship game for three straight seasons and going 2-7 in the playoff against other Power 4 conference teams, the SEC has started their campaign by saying that they deserve more teams in the tournament.
Why? Because of their depth and strength of schedule.SEC WANTS MORE PLAYOFF FAVORITISM AS GREG SANKEY COMPLAINS ABOUT 'UNSATISFACTORY' TALKS WITH CFB PLAYOFFSure, depth and strength of schedule matters, but winning your games matters too.And that's where the SEC coaches and Sankey are going through a bit of a contradictory crisis.SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott in Tampa, Fla., on July 20, 2026.
(Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)When the SEC was dominant, winning title after title, the narrative went that the depth meant that their teams were battle hardened by playoff time.Other conferences didn't progress through the regular season gauntlet of SEC teams, making them less prepared at the end of the year.Now that the SEC has fallen behind the Big Ten and are moving to nine conference games, the narrative-building has changed.
Just listen to ESPN's Laura Rutledge make excuses for a season and schedule that hasn't happened yet.LANE KIFFIN MAKES RIDICULOUS EXCUSES FOR SEC'S POOR RECENT PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF"So, I think one of the reasons why the SEC may not have advanced as far in the playoffs as some SEC fans would like to see," Rutledge told Pat McAfee recently."It's because the competition within the league is so difficult that nine games of craziness week...