The SEC Moves To Nine Games
After an offseason of passive-aggressive comments and manhood-measuring contests, the SEC is officially adding a ninth conference game. This change will take place beginning in the 2026 season, which means the Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC will all play the same number of conference games beginning next year. The ACC still plays an eight-game conference schedule, and moving to nine will be tricky with its 17 members.
This domino falling means it is increasingly likely that the College Football Playoff
will move toward the SEC-backed 5+11 model, which would feature five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large opponents. The Big Ten was refusing to accept this model while its southern counterparts were playing an extra non-conference game. Still, there are holdups from the Big Ten about the nebulous CFP committee selecting 11 teams for the playoff instead of the conferences themselves via automatic qualifiers.
Another exciting piece to this change is that SEC teams will be required to schedule a non-conference game against an opponent from either one of the other power conferences or Notre Dame. If we’re moving to a 16-team playoff, you can afford more losses, which means more fun out-of-conference matchups — like this year’s Texas-Ohio State showdown in week one. Yay.
CFP Committee Updates Selection Criteria
Is it a coincidence that this news broke the same week the news of the SEC moving to nine games broke? Maybe!
The College Football Playoff selection committee announced this week it will use new metrics to evaluate strength of schedule, following an offseason review of its data analytics. The committee will now factor in a new metric called “record strength” when selecting at-large teams for the playoff. This will give “greater weight to games against strong opponents,” which will reward teams for beating strong opponents and minimize the penalty for similar losses. In theory, this would also increase the penalty for losing to low-quality opponents.
All of this is moving toward getting as many SEC and Big Ten teams into the playoff as possible, which kind of sucks for fans of the sport. We might not see SMU coming to Beaver Stadium again. Next time, it’s going to be Alabama.
Josh Pate Partners With ESPN
CFB personality Josh Pate (and ESPN, for that matter) is continuing an offseason of making headlines. After announcing a partnership with On3 earlier this summer, Pate is now joining ESPN as a contributor. This will seemingly be limited to TV hits here and there, and maybe even some GameDay appearances, but full details have not been announced. This feels like a savvy move for ESPN, who could use some appeal to a younger and more informed audience.
Bottom line: Get ready see a lot of Josh Pate this season.
