Lane Kiffin criticizes College Football Playoff for not taking SEC schedule into consideration

Lane Kiffin took aim at the College Football Playoff for not taking the SEC schedule into account. So here we go again about strength of schedule and before games even started in 2025!

To be fair, Kiffin already moved on from last year’s playoff “snub,” which included 9-3 Ole Miss, Alabama and South Carolina. That’s when pundits started debating strength of schedule compared to other teams like SMU and Indiana.

Kiffin likened it to other sports and even the NFL. If you get in the tournament, you have a chance to win because generally the best team wins it in the end. Kiffin referred to Wild Card teams in the NFL, for example. But in college football, there has to be reward for difficult schedules, such as the one in the SEC.

“That wasn’t that difficult,” Kiffin said of getting over not making the CFP. “I tend to do better with things when they’re done. You can’t do anything to change them, you know? So it was what it was. I just think, you know, not to go back over that too much, but just in general, and there’s been a lot of talk about that since, I just think the system is not because of us, you know, I just think the system doesn’t take into account the scheduling properly. 

“And then, since then, as you look at these other sports, basketball, baseball, you see teams you know, that go on to win that weren’t in the top because they played a really hard schedule. And you lose some games, you know, it’s like the basket goes in or out at the end. Doesn’t mean you’re dramatically different than that team … Or the NFL … all the time you go to the Super Bowl, and here’s the five seed in the Super Bowl. So I just think that it doesn’t account for that and being a coach and understanding what teams take to go into certain places to play and have to get up every week versus other people’s schedule is very different.”

Kiffin certainly has his opinions when it comes to the College Football Playoff. He claimed the best system was 16 teams, but the 16 best teams.

“The best system would be 16, and it would be the 16 best,” Kiffin said. Kiffin explained that he would get rid of automatic bids for the five highest-ranked conference champions as well. Instead, it would be the top 16 teams in the final CFP rankings of the season who earned a spot.

A 16-team field would also eliminate the need for teams to receive first-round byes. The four-highest ranked conference champions received byes this past year, but going forward beginning in 2025, it will be the top four teams in the rankings regardless of whether they won their league title.