It is conceivable that in the 2025-26 college football playoff, the SEC will deserve to have six teams in the field. It could certainly happen if the selection process were about choosing the 12 best college football teams. But that is not the process. Even if in a preponderance of credible computer rankings, the SEC were to have seven of the top 12 teams, six would not make the Playoff field.
Matt Hayes, writing for USA Today, offers a counter opinion that has some truth: "... it’s time to accept a world where six SEC teams are selected to the CFP ... Which, of course, makes everyone outside the league (the SEC) want to puke." The puke part is the truth. Hayes added, "All College Football Playoff paths are quickly and undeniably leading directly to the SEC, where the exiled king is primed for a roaring comeback."
Upping the ante on college football world 'puking' odds is Seth Emerson, writing for The Athletic, describes a chaos scenario in which seven SEC football teams with two or fewer losses are worthy of being in the Playoff field. Emerson explains that the SEC's "sixth, seventh, and eighth teams may all end up ranked higher than the champions from the ACC and Group of 5." Those three teams would be out of the Playoff field, but would trigger the SEC to push hard for its most recent Playoff format proposal. That proposal has no automatic bids.
Latest SEC College Football Playoff Format Position
Recently, Greg Sankey stated, "I’ve been amazingly consistent since we moved from four to something else that I’m not a fan of automatic qualifiers. In fact, we don’t have a G5 representative in the top 25. That’s problematic and that’s an indicator of why you just don’t jump on the AQ bandwagon."
Playoff Selection Committee Chair, Mark Keenum, appears to agree with Sankey, "I'm not a big fan of automatic qualifiers. That’s the position of the Southeastern Conference -- presidents and chancellors, our commissioner, and probably most of the conferences that are part of the CFP.” Keenum is the Mississippi State President.
If Keenum is correct, it doesn't mean this cycle's Selection Committee will be so bold that the SEC gets six Playoff teams. For the SEC to have six Playoff teams, the Big 12 would get only one, and the ACC none. Until there is formal action on a new format, the top Group of Six team will not be excluded this cycle. And there is no chance a sixth SEC team would bump Notre Dame out of the Playoff.