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With the College Football Playoff race heating up, strength of schedule is top of mind for both coaches and fans. Many around the SEC are pushing to get multiple teams into the field despite having a number of two-loss squads.
Others, however, are noting win-loss records while claiming that their leagues possess the same difficulty. Lane Kiffin says that’s not the case! He quickly mocked a rival coach who claimed superiority over the SEC.
The latest CFP ranking shows five schools from the Southeastern Conference in the Top 12. Four of those squads have more than one loss, and many sit near or above potential conference champions of other leagues with better overall records.
Ole Miss is one of those programs, possessing losses to Kentucky and LSU. They’ve also knocked off Georgia and South Carolina, who are considered Top 25 foes.
In all, the SEC has eighth ranked squads, which accounts for half the league. No other conference has more than five. The grind is real! Many of those top contenders have beat up on one another as they push towards the postseason.
Head-to-head results include:
Ole Miss over Georgia
Georgia over Texas
Alabama over Georgia
Georgia over Tennessee
Tennessee over Alabama
Each of those teams are ranked among the Top 11 in the nation! The Big Ten currently boasts four of the Top 5 teams. That said, they’ve scheduled in a way to avoid many of these high-level matchups. Oregon beat Ohio State. Ohio State beat Penn State. That’s it!
The majority of those Big Ten wins have come against teams outside of what would be considered the upper echelon of college football. Indiana, in fact, is undefeated and ranked No. 5 while owning just one win over a team with a winning record! ESPN puts the Hoosiers’ strength of schedule at 106th (out of 132).
Meanwhile, the ACC has just one team ranked in the Top 10. The Big 12 has none.
The College Football Playoff committee has done little to provide intel on the most heavily weighted attribute. Are wins valued most? Does who you play matter? Judging by the Top 6, it seems strength of wins has taken a back seat!
With the postseason approaching, coaches are doing their best to lobby for their team’s inclusion. Pat Narduzzi of Pitt recently claimed ACC dominance. Most would disagree!
#Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi
“The ACC, top to bottom, is the best conference in the country. Anyone can beat anyone.”
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 11, 2024
SMU’s Rhett Lashlee voiced his concerns on conference biases around college football. “I know there’s brand biases, but there’s also conference biases. You look at the ACC, we have a winning record against the Big Ten this year. We have a winning record against the Big 12 this year… It’s still up in the air [on the ACC vs. the SEC]. To look at our league, and say it’s a one-bid league, and look at another that we have a winning record against and say they’re going to get four in, it doesn’t make sense.”
Is there an SEC bias? That’s been the argument for those on the outside. Lashlee pointed to that Ole Miss loss to Kentucky, which is the Wildcats’ only conference win. The loss to LSU has also become a hit to the Rebels’ resume as the Tigers continue on a three-game losing skid.
Lane Kiffin had a rebuttal for those doubting the SEC’s depth. He texted one of those coaches claiming that his league was better than the Southeastern Conference.
“Joking, I sent a text and said to one of these other coaches, he made a statement [about their conference being the best in college football], and I said, ‘Try going to 100 Sanford Drive (home of the Georgia Bulldogs) and see if you still say that.’ It’s different.”
-Lane Kiffin
Kiffin wouldn’t name the coach, but the message was received. He believes his league is the best! This year’s 12-team College Football field has many making wild strategical suggestions about the last two games of the regular season.
Joey Galloway recently insisted that Indiana bench its starting quarterback for games against Ohio State and Michigan. Lane Kiffin, meanwhile, has said that some SEC teams are now looking for a way out of the conference championship game in order to avoid being dealt another loss. It’s made for some unexpected storylines as we inch closer to the postseason.
In all likelihood, the SEC will have the most CFP bids when Selection Sunday comes. The Big Ten could rival that depending on how things shake out. The Big 12 and ACC appear to be one-bid leagues at this point. Much of that is due to the perception of the SEC’s strength.