The biggest topic of conversation at the SEC's spring meetings in Destin this week is undeniably the future of the College Football Playoff. With every other league seemingly on board with the expansion of the playoff to 24 teams, Greg Sankey and the SEC appear to be the only ones currently holding those proceedings up.
Perhaps not for much longer, though.
In a poll taken at the meetings, nine of the league's 16 athletic directors said they were in favor of a 24-team playoff. It appears to be the new reality, regardless of how overwhelmingly fans have derided it.
Kalen DeBoer spoke to the media on Tuesday, and he was of course asked for his position on the inevitable CFP expansion.
His answer was exactly what it should be:
"For me, it's not really about a number. It's about just trying to win every football game so we don't have to put it in a committee's hands," DeBoer said, via NBC's Nicole Auerbach.
Kalen DeBoer is focused on winning games at Alabama - not the CFP expansion
At the end of the day, DeBoer's opinion on the CFP expansion doesn't really matter for how things are going to ultimately play out. He's not worried about that. Nor should he be.
He's only concerned about what he can control. And the only thing he can control is getting a young Crimson Tide team ready to play football in 2026.
At a program with Alabama's pedigree, the size of the playoff shouldn't really matter. 2, 4, 12, 24, whatever, Alabama fans expect to be in the mix every single season. That's the reality of coaching football in Tuscaloosa.
DeBoer knows that Alabama stumbling down the stretch to Oklahoma at home and then a three-touchdown loss in the SEC Championship Game to Georgia put his team's fate in the hands of the Selection Committee this past season. He doesn't want that to happen again. Had Alabama not dropped the home game to Oklahoma in November, then the Crimson Tide would have had no anxiety on Selection Sunday, even after losing to Georgia in Atlanta.
At the end of the day, that's where the focus has to be. Undefeated seasons are going to be increasingly rare in this era of college football, but that should still be the goal at Alabama. Put yourself in a position to win every single Saturday, and then you can let the rest of the chips fall where they may.
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