Thoughts on All-SEC Playoff Might Not Be Where Most Think

A lot of talk about the SEC having it's own playoff but you have to wonder if we're seeing it correctly

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is making waves again.

He wasn't happy when expansion of the current College Football Playoff was thrown in the trash so now everybody is talking about an alternative method.

Yes, the airwaves and blogs are full of speculation about an all-SEC playoff once Texas and Oklahoma make their way into the league. We don't know when that will be, but the guess is sooner than 2025.

Michael Morrison/USA TODAY Sports

That's as much as the Big 12 bringing on four teams starting in 2023, which would create a two-year scheduling nightmare with 14 teams for two seasons, then down to 12. But that's speculation for another day.

The fun may start with the league meetings in Destin next week. It's already ripe for chaos with Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher in the same hotel.

For the record…we haven’t had an SEC Spring Meeting since 2019…which is a long, long time… https://t.co/Al3KrIDBpj

— Greg Sankey (@GregSankey) May 23, 2022

Pete Thamel over at ESPN first brought up the idea of the SEC just deciding to stage its own playoff and not inviting any friends from other neighborhoods to join.

All of this got rolling when the Pac-12, ACC and Big Ten decided in January to blow up the deal the Power 5 conferences thought they had reached.

Sankey was not happy.

“We can stay at 4. This conference will thrive at 4 … period,” Sankey said earlier in the month per Nubyjas Wilborn with AL.com. “That’s not healthy for the rest of college football, but we can stay at 4.”

That was good enough to deflect the discussion to an SEC with 16 teams having some sort of playoff with that champion declaring to the world they are the champion.

It would be a better claim than Arkansas has to the 1964 championship or Central Florida with the 2017 title, but but nobody thinks that's particularly fair. The fantasy of the best team winning the championship won't go away.

They forget this is about money. If tradition and fair play can be profitable, everybody would follow along blindly.

But the money from an SEC Tournament for football might approach College Football Playoff numbers, providing ESPN can stay solvent enough to write the checks as their parent corporation (Disney) riding a stock market roller coaster right now.

What if the SEC just decided to take over college sports and went to a 32-team league?

Secondly, what in the world makes you think if the schools they invite to come along for the ride could at least double their money they wouldn't come along for the ride?

There's a reason for that number. Look at the NFL, which could be the model Sankey and his crew of accountants in Birmingham have looked at all along.

The college sports model isn't what your grandparents fondly remember. It's not about the fans or players any more. Money has taken over.

Greed has been the biggest factor in just about everything since the beginning of time.

Don't expect anything to change now.

In fact, you might not want to have any expectations.

Just enjoy the ride.

---

HOGS FEED

FOOTBALL FADING AT HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL IN ARKANSAS

HAVING ONE PERMANENT OPPONENT IN SEC MIGHT BE AWKWARD FOR HOGS

ESPN ANALYTICS SAYS HOGS NEXT TO LAST IN SEC WEST FOOTBALL RACE

DEIFEL HAS BUILT UNSTOPPABLE FORCE IN WORLD OF SOFTBALL

SEC SHORTS DOES HILARIOUS VIDEO OF NICK SABAN-JIMBO FISHER FEUD

SUNDAY BLOWOUT PROVES COSTLY TO HOGS IN SEC TOURNAMENT

---

• Return to allHogs home page.

• Want to join in on the discussion? Click here to become a member of the allHOGS message board community today!

• Follow allHOGS on Twitter and Facebook.