In the past when the College Football Playoff was just four teams and every single loss was the difference between qualifying and missing it, conference championship games were pretty much a necessity and teams that didn't play one risked missing out entirely. But in the 12-game era, Alabama's athletic director believes such games are no longer necessary.
In an interview with USA Today, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne asserted that the SEC Championship Game is ready to be abolished. He argued that while it's a great event and doesn't like the idea of getting rid of it, the expanded playoff makes it a reality that must be acknowledged.
“I think the ship has sailed. It’s run its course..." Byrne said. “It’s a great event. I don’t like the idea of it going away, but I think it’s reality, with an expanded playoff.”
Growing momentum
Byrne is hardly the first person to make this assertion.
In 2024, Lane Kiffin declared that coaches don't even want to play in the SEC Championship Game anymore because it's so risky to a team's College Football Playoff chances.
“(Coaches) don’t want to be in it,” Kiffin said bluntly.
Just a few weeks ago, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte similarly asked what the point of the game was anymore.
“Why have a conference championship game?” he asked rhetorically.
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Byrne believes that the alternative solution is an expansion of the College Football Playoff to 16 games.
“I think we need to pick a lane,” he said. “We were headed for 16, and then there seemed to be pressure for 24. So, as soon as we get to 24, I guess you could say, ‘Well, we better go to 48.’ I mean, at some point, we have to pick a lane.”
The SEC Championship Game isn't some ancient and sacred institution. It's only been around since 1992 and only six different teams have won it. For the first 60 years of the SEC's existence, the conference championship was determined by the best record.
Will the SEC do away with the conference title game in the near future?
