SEC football tiebreakers: Here’s how the conference will circumvent identical records in divisionless format

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With the newly expanded 16-team SEC moving to a divisionless format for the 2024 season, tiebreakers for a place in the conference championship game have become a priority. The conference addressed any potential hiccups Wednesday with a six-point tiebreaker policy if there there is not a head-to-head result to draw upon for selection. 

Tie-breaking procedures will be particularly significant in stalemates between teams jockeying for second place in the standings and a spot in the SEC Championship Game. Previously, the SEC East and SEC West champions met for the league title. While it was possible for teams from the same division to finish with the same record in that format, breaking the tie was simple because a head-to-head matchup always settled the score.

That has changed for 2024 and beyond, however. Here is the full list of tie breaking criteria, in order, as announced by the SEC:

Head-to-head competition among the tied teamsRecord against all common conference opponents among the tied teamsRecord against highest-placed common conference opponent in the conference standings, proceeding throughout the conference standings. Cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponentsCapped relative total scoring margin vs. all conference opponentsRandom draw of the tied teams

The SEC did experience a three-way tie atop the SEC East standings in 2003 and had to scramble late in the season to approve tie-breaking procedures that incorporated the BCS standings. If they hadn’t approved the change, then the league’s athletic directors would have voted to…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/sec-football-tiebreakers-heres-how-the-conference-will-circumvent-identical-records-in-divisionless-format/

Author : David Cobb

Publish date : 2024-08-21 20:48:28

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