Mike Elko Suggests SEC Teams Will Dominate College Football Playoff

The 2024 College Football season will mark the first in the expanded playoff era, as the sport expands its postseason competition from four to 12 teams.

In combination with the massive realignment wave, which sent USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten and Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, no one's quite sure exactly how different schedules and matchups will play out. But with the SEC Media Days upon us, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko believes he knows what's coming: more SEC teams in the playoff.

Elko told the media, "Spending four years in this conference, I felt more (SEC) teams were deserving of making the playoff. This conference has clearly established itself as the premier conference. It deserves more access. I think you'll see something similar to College World Series w/(number of SEC) teams in College Football Playoff"

Elko's comments though, raise several questions. Will the SEC dominate the playoff field, and should they?

AUBURN, AL - NOVEMBER 30:  The line of scrimmage as the Alabama Crimson Tide line up against the Auburn Tigers in the third quarter at Jordan-Hare Stadium on November 30, 2013 in Auburn, Alabama.  (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

SEC Set To Dominate Expanded College Football Playoff?

Everyone has their own interpretation of what the College Football Playoff should be. Some prefer that the playoffs represent the best results on the field; teams with the best records should be rewarded with an opportunity to win a championship.

Others prefer the best teams be rewarded. This argument played out after the 2023 Georgia Bulldogs team lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game to fall to 12-1. Georgia was widely viewed as one of the best four teams in the country, but fell behind Texas and Alabama to miss the playoff. Florida State was also left out, despite an undefeated record in the ACC.

While Washington deserved its spot based off an undefeated record in a difficult Pac-12 Conference, there's little doubt Georgia was, overall, a better team. So what do we want to see in the expanded playoff era? 

Obviously a one-loss Georgia team that doesn't win the SEC will no longer have to worry about being left out. Neither will an undefeated Florida State team. But those arguments will now be pushed further down the rankings list; will a three-loss SEC team "deserve" to go over a two-loss Big 12 or ACC team? Or should even a four loss SEC or Big Ten team with a difficult schedule be given priority over other conferences?

It depends on what you want to watch. 

Generally, the Playoff Committee has chosen to play both sides. They've prioritized conference champions, sometimes choosing less elite teams like Washington, while simultaneously picking Alabama and Texas over Florida State considering both won more difficult conferences. Will they do the same when deciding between teams that didn't win their conferences?

Committee Will Have Choices To Make

In the era of super conferences, schedules will generally become harder, making for more challenging debates. USC for example, plays LSU, Notre Dame, Michigan, Washington, Penn State, UCLA and Wisconsin.

The best of the best might struggle to win nine games against that schedule. Should a three-loss USC team be given priority over a two-loss ACC team? Or a two-loss Big 12 team? Because the expanded Big Ten now can make many of the same arguments as the SEC.

That's where the issue with Elko's comments come in. Yes, the SEC is hard, but at some points results have to matter too. Advanced metrics are better at delineating who the best teams actually are, but if there's no balance between "best" in the toughest conferences and "most successful," the playoff will be exclusively SEC and Big Ten teams. Maybe that's what some fans want. But it certainly doesn't make for exciting national matchups.