Lane Kiffin took a not-so-subtle shot at the SEC’s new nine-game scheduling model during the league’s teleconference Wednesday. A graphic shared in a group text among several of the league’s coaches was the impetus.
“This is nothing I haven’t said to the commissioner or didn’t say when it was brought up years ago about making this decision – that this was going to really be a poor decision and really not thought out,” Kiffin told LouisianaSports.net. His No. 10 Tigers host No. 23 Texas A&M at 6:30 on Saturday. “There was a graphic sent today to some of the SEC coaches, and it was top-25 teams and ranked opponents left. It really puts it into perspective, in the Power Four, how ridiculous this is.
“It starts with Texas playing seven top-25 teams left,” Kiffin said. “Then you have other conferences – and I’m not ripping on any school. I’m just saying these are the facts. You have a Big 12 school that doesn’t play one ranked team the rest of the year, and you have an ACC team that plays zero ranked teams the rest of the year.”
Each of the SEC’s coaches fielded questions on the quarterly SEC Teleconference except Kiffin, who instead made his feelings known in an exclusive interview with Matt Moscona.
The College Football Playoff’s 12-team bracket is composed of five automatic qualifiers, a team from each Power 4 Conference, and seven at-large schools.
The win-loss record, not strength of schedule, has become a stronger component to the selection committee during its selection process.
“If I were to tell you this 20 years ago,” Kiffin started, “there was going to be a system made, and you were going to increase by playing more hard games in the SEC, with this problem already, and then there’s going to be a committee with a very hard task of, ‘Hey, take the top 12 teams,’ knowing that the number one factor will always be win and loss, no matter what – you can’t. Your eyes can’t unsee 9-3 versus 11-1.
“And if I told you that this was it, and you’re going to have teams with seven, five, five, five, five, six – you know, those are all SEC teams with those many top-25 teams ranked. … but then, hey, you better win. And you better win the same as these other conferences that are playing zero and one top-25 teams, and you’re going to be competing with them for at-large bids. It makes no sense, and I don’t think any other sport has anything like this.”
Kiffin pointed toward Oklahoma’s national championship in baseball to emphasize his point. The Sooners, who were 43-23 overall, went 14-16 in conference play. They won a regional at Georgia Tech, the ACC champions. They won a super regional at Kansas, the Big 12 champions. Then they survived the College World Series in Omaha despite losing six of 10 SEC series.
“So, it really was a poor decision,” Kiffin said. “I understand money was involved for TV contracts, but where does that get you when you just add totally different schedules than anyone else plays, and what that does to your locker room and team chemistry, and the ability to have games where you’re playing backups in second halves?
“And remember, for our ninth game, we didn’t replace a group of six team,” Kiffin said. “We didn’t say, “Oh, add a ninth SEC game. You can get rid of your other Power Four game. We were made to keep our Power Four game and get rid of a Group of Six game. So, you took 16 basically automatic wins and replaced them with eight losses.”
College Football Playoff leaders are currently amid a 30-day negotiating window with TV partner ESPN on possibly expanding the playoff field to 24 teams, which could happen as early as next season.
