Conference championship games in college football are happening Saturday, but we have commissioners of conferences now politicking for their teams to get into the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Greg Sankey of the Southeastern Conference and Jim Phillips of the Atlantic Coast Conference discussed on ESPN’s College GameDay on why their league needs to have more teams in the playoff. The SEC and ACC have conference title matchups, while the ACC Championship Game has implications on the University of Alabama. Alabama football, a program in the SEC, needs Southern Methodist University (SMU) to beat Clemson in order for it to grab an at-large big at No. 11 for the 12-team dance.
ACC commissioner tells why ‘it doesn’t make sense’ Alabama is rank above Miami
Commissioner Sankey made a definitive statement about how the Crimson Tide’s strength of schedule is better than any program in the ACC.
“[The SEC] is the strongest league in college football and it needs to be respected for that.”
—SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on the CFP picture pic.twitter.com/CUDxZtvabY
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) December 7, 2024
“Our strength of schedule,” Sankey said to start the conversation about why Alabama needs to be in the playoff and why the SEC is the strongest league. “Fourteen of our teams have a better strength of schedule than all but one of the teams in the CFP Top 25.”
“If you look at the principles, the first thing listed is strength of schedule. It is not about losses, it is about the strength of how you challenge yourself. We are 8-3 against ACC teams during the season. You watched Georgia start here to begin the season with a resounding win. You watched South Carolina with a big win over Clemson. This is the strongest league in CFB and needs to be respected for that.”
Alabama had five opponents — Georgia, Missouri, LSU, Tennessee, and Oklahoma — on its regular season schedule ranked in the top 25 before it played a game. It has three victories over teams currently ranked in the top 25 with Georgia (No. 5), South Carolina (No. 14), and Missouri (No. 19). The Crimson Tide had one of the toughest schedules in college football as it even has a quality loss to a top 25 program in Tennessee (No. 7). We will see if SMU puts Alabama in with the at-large bit, but Sankey has made his case for the Tide and more SEC teams to be in the playoff.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
