Cam Newton fires shot at Notre Dame while campaigning for SEC to have more spots in College Football Playoff

Based on the latest ranking this week of the CFP Top 25, the SEC is now up to five teams currently projected to be in the College Football Playoff, which just further extends their lead over representation elsewhere around the FBS. However, that’s still not enough of the league in the playoff for Cam Newton.

Newton made that argument for the SEC during a segment on ‘First Take’ on Friday. He, as they were talking about No. 10 Texas ahead of their game at No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night, argued that the Longhorns, the last at-large in the field and of the five total teams in from the Southeastern Conference, shouldn’t be the final one in from the SEC. They were his example, considering their case is being debated even if they were to be a three-loss team, which he says he would take over several other programs. Newton singled out Notre Dame as a team Texas should jump.

“Man, oh man, I keep receipts. A couple of weeks ago, I said, on this show? I said I would prefer a three-loss SEC team to be in the College Football Playoff than another conference. And, we’re looking at it, we’re seeing it happen right now!” Newton exclaimed. “It don’t matter (that five are already in). When you start to see teams like Notre Dame? Texas A&M – yes, I said it, I said it. A lot of people believe that you take Texas, who still has UGA and Texas A&M? Bro, listen. I’m telling you. You have to understand the truth, and the fact that you know what it’s like to play in the SEC, and you start to see like, hey? I wouldn’t care.”

Newton often campaigns for his former conference in the SEC. In the past, it has often come at the expense of Notre Dame, with the Fighting Irish obviously still being an independent.

Newton, though, based this take on strength of schedule, with the SEC having the top seven in SOS for all the teams in the field per ESPN’s FPI. He wants the sport to put even more of an emphasis on that metric, arguing that the Southeastern Conference gets penalized for having teams with two-plus losses despite the difficulty of their schedule, while other conferences get rewarded for better records from weaker schedules as far as the CFP.

“We can fix this, college football,” Newton stated. “If you allow teams to have more of a strength of schedule, not picking who you really want to play? You have a conference in the SEC that gets penalized for playing tougher individuals on a week-to-week basis, where, on the other hand, you have other conferences that are rewarded by merely their record. That’s the only thing I’m saying.”

This is, whether you agree or not, often the position taken when it comes to the SEC having more teams make the CFP. Newton just made it again this morning, in trying to argue that half the field, or more, should be from the Southeastern Conference.