SEC tie breaker rules

[GoHorns1]

No longer will the SEC Championship have representatives from the East and West. Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference means all 16 teams will be in one set of standings, fighting to get to Atlanta. But this brought questions about tiebreaker rules, especially as there is not a round-robin schedule.

The SEC answered those on Wednesday, announcing the tie-breaking process. There are six different steps they will go through to break a tie in order to earn a spot in the SEC Championship game.

Head-to-head competition among the tied teams

Record versus all common Conference opponents among the tied teams

Record against highest (best) placed common Conference opponent in the Conference standings, and proceeding through the Conference standings among the tied teams

Cumulative Conference winning percentage of all Conference opponents among the tied teams

Capped relative total scoring margin versus all Conference opponents among the tied teams

Random draw of the tied teams

Two notes were added at the bottom by the SEC, regarding who would be considered the home team during the game. Even if the top two teams are tied at the top and already in the championship game, the process would be used to determine what jersey colors are worn at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“If the regular season standings determine a clear Conference champion and two or more teams are tied for second place, the Conference champion will be the home team in the Championship Game and the tiebreaking procedures will be used to determine its opponent,” the statement said.

“If a tiebreaker step produces standings with two teams tied for first place in the Conference, both will qualify for the championship game. To decide the seeding of the two teams, both will progress through the two-team tiebreaker procedures until the tie is broken, which will determine home/away designation for the SEC Championship Game.”

It’s a new era for the SEC Championship game with there not being a limit on who can play each other. Maybe we see two old East or West teams face off. Texas and Oklahoma will be gunning to get to Atlanta in their inaugural seasons.

This year’s game will take place on Dec. 7, with an automatic qualifying spot in the College Football Playoff on the line. It’s no guarantee the tiebreaking process is used but the SEC needs to be prepared for every possible scenario that can present itself– yes, even Option F.

[Kyle Fricke]

As expected the SEC has clear language. A nice change from the Big XII that has this confusing sentence that is open to interpretation and debate: “If not, every tied team has played each other, go to step 2.” Glad we’re in more professional conference now.