This will be the 12th year of the College Football Playoff (second of the 12-team format) and since its inception, the SEC has never been excluded from the bracket of playoff teams.
That could all change in 2025, as NIL and the transfer portal have caused more parity in the SEC than any other league, and in the upcoming weeks the potential for SEC fisticuffs that topple the rankings could mean every team in the conference finishes with two losses or more.
While two losses isn't an automatic exclusion from the College Football Playoff, it does make navigating your way in much more difficult, especially if there are more deserving teams from other conferences.
Enough November carnage, and we could see a College Football Playoff field without the SEC for the first time. (And if you don't think that wouldn't cause commissioner Greg Sankey to push for immediate changes to the playoff format, you don't know the SEC ego very well).
How could every SEC team end up with two or more losses?
As it stands heading into Week 8, there are already seven of the 16 SEC teams who have two or more losses -- Texas, Kentucky, Auburn, Arkansas, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Florida. Of those teams, only Texas has any kind of outside shot at making the CFP.
That brings us to the one-loss teams -- Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, and Alabama. Every one of those teams still holds some playoff hope. But for most of them, that hope hangs by a thread.
Here are the potential second or third losses for each of those one-loss teams.
Vanderbilt: LSU, Missouri, Texas, Tennessee
Oklahoma: Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, LSU
Missouri: Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Oklahoma
Tennessee: Alabama, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
LSU: Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Alabama, Oklahoma
Georgia: Ole Miss, Texas, Georgia Tech (possibly Florida in the Cocktail Party)
Alabama: Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma (possibly Auburn in the Iron Bowl)
As you can see, there's a lot of crossover on those lists, so for any of those teams to find their way to running the table is unlikely. There's a better than decent chance all of those teams lose at least one more game.
That brings us to the two undefeated SEC teams, Texas A&M and Ole Miss.
The Aggies still have to play LSU, Missouri and Texas. Then Ole Miss has to deal with Georgia and Oklahoma, not to mention rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.
And then, of course, the SEC Championship Game, which will give one from all the above listed teams another loss.
See where this is going? We've never seen an SEC season quite like this one, and looking at these future schedules, the words "no one gets out alive" leap to mind.
How could the SEC possibly miss a 12-team playoff?
It may sound far-fetched, but truthfully, if every team in the conference finishes with two or more losses, it could mean the end of the playoff run for the SEC.
Ohio State, Miami, Texas Tech, Indiana, Oregon, Georgia Tech, BYU, Virginia, USF, and Memphis could all potentially come out of the regular season and conference championships undefeated or with one loss at the most.
If Indiana and Ohio State meet in the Big Ten Championship, both teams will find their way into the playoff regardless of the outcome. Same for BYU and Texas Tech out of the Big 12, and Miami vs Georgia Tech/UVA in the ACC.
That accounts for eight spots, with USF/Memphis claiming the Group of Six automatic bid. The remaining three spots could go to Notre Dame (if they run the table and finish strong), and one-loss teams who didn't make the conference title games out of the ACC, Big Ten, and Big 12 taking the other three spots.
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Why would those three teams be selected over the SEC? Quite simply, November games against FCS opponents.
The top four teams in the conference -- Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, and Georgia -- all have late-season game against an FCS team. In years past, when there was more separation between the SEC and other leagues, those games didn't hurt them. But in 2025, feasting on those November cupcakes could cost those teams a seat at the table when the strength of schedule arguments start popping up among the committee.
There's still a lot of football to be played, and we always have some chaos and upsets as the end of the season draws near, which means the likelihood of an undefeated or one-loss SEC team is far less than it's ever been before.
Cheers, to parity!