A unique SEC Championship idea perfect for the new era of college football

The SEC has always been a forward-thinking league. In 1992, the league hosted the inaugural conference championship game pitting undefeated Alabama against Florida in Birmingham. It was a risky move because the unbeaten Crimson Tide would have already clinched a spot in the Sugar Bowl to play Miami for the national title. A loss would have knocked the SEC out of the title game.

Antonio Langham intercepted a Shane Matthews pass and returned it for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put those fears to bed. Alabama went on to demolish Miami in the Sugar Bowl to claim the program's 12th title.

Now, in the super conference era, the SEC has a chance to lead the charge of innovation once again. Currently, the SEC tiebreaker scenarios are enough to make your head spin. If Auburn beats Texas A&M, Texas A&M then beats Texas, and everything else is chalk, then we're going to end the regular season in a six-way tie for first place.

Picking two teams out of those six is bound to alienate the four teams left out. With unbalanced schedules, this won't be the last time there's a major logjam for one of, if not both, spots in the SEC Championship Game.

So let's get creative to solve that problem. This is a new era of college football and in a new era with an expanded playoff, we can bring forth outside-the-box ideas.

A new era of college football breeds a new SEC Championship format

Instead of two teams playing for the SEC Championship, let's take a cue from the NCAA and expand that to four teams. We can accomplish that without adding an extra game to everyone's schedule, too. And we can get a ninth conference game for everyone, removing the favorite argument of fans of other conferences.

Instead of playing four out-of-conference games, each team will play three. There will still be eight scheduled conference games each year, four at home and four on the road for each team. The final week of the regular season will be TBD, however.

After eight conference games, the top four teams will advance to the SEC semifinals to be played at the higher-seeded team's home stadium. The winners will then advance to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.

The remaining 12 teams will be scheduled against one another in the same week, trying to avoid any rematches if at all possible.

So for example, this year could look like this:

SEC Semifinals:

1. Texas vs. 4 Ole Miss
2. Alabama vs. 3. Georgia

Then you would have the following matchups:

Tennessee vs. Texas A&M
South Carolina vs. Arkansas
Missouri vs. LSU
Vanderbilt vs. Florida
Oklahoma vs. Kentucky
Auburn vs. Mississippi State

So while Tennessee and Texas A&M would be disappointed to miss the four-team SEC playoff, they would both have an opportunity to earn a quality win on the final weekend to strengthen their playoff resumes.

Logistically, the biggest problem would be for venues to have to turn around and prepare for a home game with one week's notice. Though, a counterargument for that is that four teams are going to have to do it with two week's notice for the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

But imagine how much fun it would be. Alabama facing Georgia for the second time this season at Bryant-Denny Stadium with the winner advancing to the SEC Championship and likely assuring itself of a playoff berth. A red-hot Ole Miss traveling to Austin to face off with Texas with the winner making it to Atlanta for the first time?

It'll never happen, but it would put the SEC at the forefront of growth in college football and all eyes would be on the conference on the final weekend of the regular season.