Florida head coach Will MuschampIn a unified stance that was anything but unexpected, Southeastern Conference football coaches on Tuesday expressed their desire for a four-team national playoff to consist of the four highest-ranked teams.
That came as the league opened its spring meetings in Destin, Fla.
The SEC is riding an unprecedented wave of success in the sport with six consecutive national championships, and the league this past season became the first to have two participants — LSU and Alabama — in the BCS title game. There also have been two SEC teams in BCS bowls each of the past six seasons, with league members winning 10 of those 12 games.
“If you want to just to take the top four teams in the BCS instead of the top two, that’s one way of doing it that’s already in place,” Georgia’s Mark Richt told reporters at the meetings. “You wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel.”
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany suggested earlier this spring that only conference champions should be included in the playoff, though his league came out of its spring meetings leaning toward a proposal with three conference champions and an at-large selection. The SEC is expected to adopt its proposal by Friday.