What if there was a championship and it didn’t really matter? Or actually, what if there was a championship and competing for it hurt a team’s real chances in the national championship? As the 12-team College Football Playoff is tweaked, changed and fine-tuned, one thing can’t change: Playing in a conference championship game hurts.
The problem appears deepest in the SEC, as the league has enough seriousness to accommodate five teams in a 12-team field. Which means three-fifths of those teams in the College Football Playoff didn’t play for the SEC Championship. And the only team still in the semi-finals? Just like a year ago, NOT the SEC champion.
After watching SEC champion Georgia fall in the CFP quarterfinals for the second time in two seasons and SEC title game participant Alabama get completely crushed by Indiana 38-3, it’s clear that the truth is shining through: The best path is to stay out of the SEC championship game altogether.
The SEC has a fundamental problem.
It’s better to finish third in the league and host a home playoff game than to play in the conference championship game.
This should be the SEC’s top priority this offseason.
– Dayne Young (@dayneyoung) January 2, 2026
Of course, the fundamental question here is not entirely up to the SEC. The conference champions are now 1-9 in the 12-team College Football Playoff. And other leagues might notice the same phenomenon.
The Big Ten was the other league capable of fitting enough teams into the CFP to make their championship title game irrelevant. And while Indiana advances, it’s worth noting that Oregon, like Ole Miss having a chance to finish in the top two, got past Texas Tech to reach the semifinals. Ohio State, participating in the league title game, fell to Miami.
A season ago, the first teams to reach the end of the 12-team playoff were an Ohio State team that missed the Big Ten title game and a Notre Dame team that has the advantage of never playing in a championship title game. This year, at least one of the two finalists (either Ole Miss or Miami) missed their conference championship.
What’s interesting is that the benefit of not playing a conference title game is demonstrable, but playing an additional CFP game doesn’t seem to be a significant problem. A season ago, No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 8 Ohio State each needed to win three games to reach the title game. This year, Indiana is the only top-four seed that hasn’t already had to win two games, while either No. 6 or No. 10 will play for the title. For some reason, playing one more game in the playoffs doesn’t seem to carry as much weight as playing for (and certainly winning) a conference title.
There has been substantial speculation that the move to 16 teams in the playoffs could mean the end of the conference title games. With Indiana aiming for a 16-0 season, the difficulty of expecting players to appear in so many games is evident. But a world in which a team could enter the playoffs in third place in its league to avoid an unnecessary extra game? It might be sooner than expected.
