Could the SEC get left out in the cold this year?

I think there is still an anti SEC bias that could result in passing up the SEC champ if they have two losses and the other four conference champs have one or less losses. I was never a big fan of the selection committee. They should have used a variation of the BCS system and take the top four teams based on the computer results.

Unlikely... If two teams with 1 loss meet in SEC CHamptionship and are ranked in top 7... then most likely, SEC can get in playoff... I don't think SEC get left out.. two losses.. maybe...

I have to say, the SEC West did not exactly cover themselves in glory last bowl season.
Ammo for the SEC haters.
But I agree with the others.
Undefeated SEC champ= no way they get left out.
1-loss SEC champ = very unlikely
2-loss SEC champ = probably out in the cold.

2 loss team prolly not.

1 loss team maybe.

Depends on loss timing and whether said team(s) are trending up. SOS factor should be considered, although we all know how that is manipulated at will to alter the equation.

The only way a two loss SEC champ doesn't get left out is if enough teams in the top 4 are also 2 losses...highly unlikely.

Moot point.....with both Bama and UF going 12-0....we'll end up with at least one undefeated SEC team.

The way things are set up, it's intended to put 4 teams in from the 5 conferences. So, the SEC is likely to get one, two is a long shot, and none is also a long shot. Having said that, a 2 loss SEC team is almost insured to be on the outside looking in. And it won't matter how much better their SoS is than teams that got in, in that case...

Tidewater said:

I have to say, the SEC West did not exactly cover themselves in glory last bowl season.
Ammo for the SEC haters.
But I agree with the others.
Undefeated SEC champ= no way they get left out.
1-loss SEC champ = very unlikely
2-loss SEC champ = probably out in the cold.

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I agree. The games this week will help a lot. If the SEC teams can show well in the decent out of conference games, there could possibly be one with 2 losses. I think there is enough of a "they aren't as strong as they were." mentality that a 2 loss could easily get left out given enough 1 loss power 5 teams.

For those that don't root for other SEC teams. This may be the year the out of conference schedule is pretty important. If there are wins in these games, and no big OOC upsets, I can easily see a 2 loss SEC team still getting in. I don't see all of these wins happening though:

Alabama - Wisconsin
Florida - Florida State
Auburn - Lousville
South Carolina - Clemson
Arkansas - Texas Tech
Texas A&N - Arizona State
Georgia - Georgia Tech

It depends on what happens on the field and who loses and to who and when. If an SEC team wins the SECCG with 1 loss, they'll be in the dance, guaranteed. Maybe even with 2 losses.....but that'll depend on what happens in other conferences.

Elefantman said:

I think there is still an anti SEC bias that could result in passing up the SEC champ if they have two losses and the other four conference champs have one or less losses. I was never a big fan of the selection committee. They should have used a variation of the BCS system and take the top four teams based on the computer results.

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I have been saying this since the decision was made to use a selection committee. The BCS paired #1 v #2 and it did it well. If you wanted a playoff, they should have take the top 4 BCS teams and put them in a playoff. If they wanted the committee to do something, they could have seeded the teams.

My beef with selection committees is their tendency to try to overcorrect past controversies (not the mention the anti-SEC bias held by those outside the conference footprint that wouldn't exist with the computers). I think we'll see immense pressure on the committee to take even a subpar one-loss Big XII team, to look skeptically at an unbeaten ACC team, and to use last season's bowl results to exclude a second SEC team if one is deserving.

No. The SEC is the best conference in football, but just like the last several years someone will come out of it in the playoffs (or before the BCS).

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Has anyone else noticed that the people who most vociferously OPPOSE a playoff are the same ones (in general) who worry about "we might not get in with two losses," which would, in fact, happen with a 16-team playoff?

If you're a two-loss team and we're going to use that whole "every game counts" nonsense, then you don't belong in the four-team playoff. Period. Besides, it all shook out last year and I don't recall anyone here complaining all that much about who got in - the complaint became a case of "well under the BCS, we would have played Florida State and probably won."

True, but irrelevant since we all knew the rules before the season began.

RobK said:

My beef with selection committees is their tendency to try to overcorrect past controversies (not the mention the anti-SEC bias held by those outside the conference footprint that wouldn't exist with the computers). I think we'll see immense pressure on the committee to take even a subpar one-loss Big XII team, to look skeptically at an unbeaten ACC team, and to use last season's bowl results to exclude a second SEC team if one is deserving.

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like button. I Agree with this. My take is a 2 loss SEC team gets left out, even if they are somehow the SEC champ. A 1 loss SEC champion gets in with a quality loss. Possibly a 1 loss SEC non champion gets in if the champion has a poor quality loss or somehow has 2 losses. An undeafeated SEC champ gets in almost automatic.

4Q Basket Case said:

With an undefeated champion, no way.

With a 1-loss champion, not likely.

With a 2-loss champion, probably.

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I agree with this unless weird things happen like the year LSU won it all under Miles.

selmaborntidefan said:

Has anyone else noticed that the people who most vociferously OPPOSE a playoff are the same ones (in general) who worry about "we might not get in with two losses," which would, in fact, happen with a 16-team playoff?

If you're a two-loss team and we're going to use that whole "every game counts" nonsense, then you don't belong in the four-team playoff. Period. Besides, it all shook out last year and I don't recall anyone here complaining all that much about who got in - the complaint became a case of "well under the BCS, we would have played Florida State and probably won."

True, but irrelevant since we all knew the rules before the season began.

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LIKE

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The answer to the original question is absolutely, and it will happen sooner than later under the current system. Solution that would lessen the chance to near 0% would be 4 teams using the BCS formula that heavily weighs strength of schedule. Urban Meyer was smart, very smart, to move on the big 10 jv league where wins come easy.

teamplayer said:

I agree with this unless weird things happen like the year LSU won it all under Miles.

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That's the one wild card in the deck, but that's only going to happen maybe once a decade or so.

The really strange years in all my years of following college football: 1984, 1990, 2001, and 2007.

I've been watching since 1978, so four in 37 years - about every decade or so.

In 1984, BYU wound up winning it mostly because all the "big name" teams except Washington - OU and Nebraska most notably - had two imperfections and fell from the top spot. Washington didn't even win the Pac Ten that year. And in the SEC, Florida was probably the best team in the country but the late Charley Pell had resigned over some 100 infractions so Florida opted to take part of its punishment in 1984 and were stripped in May 1985 of their first SEC title (this was the year LSU wound up in New Orleans after Pat Dye out-coached himself in the Iron Bowl).

In 1990, Colorado won with the Fifth Down and two imperfections but what did everything in was the fact that everyone except Ga Tech had two imperfections. Notre Dame fell from the top twice, Miami lost to both BYU and Notre Dame, and Tech was obligated to play in the Citrus Bowl.

In 2001, that whole series of upsets triggered post 9-11 set us up with Miami and Nebraska. But even that only happened because the 9/16 game between Oregon and Fresno St was cancelled and never played. If it had been played and Oregon won, they'd have played Miami while if they had lost, Colorado would have.

In 2007, a whole other level of insanity took over. That was the year USC somehow lost to 41-point underdog Stanford. LSU lost twice in overtime, WVA somehow lost to Pitt, Mizzou couldn't beat OU, even Ohio State lost a game they should have won.

It takes multiple levels of insanity to produce 2007 again. The others would not matter in the larger picture.