Why does the SEC have a different tiebreaker rule than other conferences?

In other conferences if there is a 3 way tie in a division, the highest ranked team goes to play for the Championship.

In the SEC if there is a 3 way tie, even if a team is ranked lower than another team (by less than 5 spots) they will still get in the title game if they had beat the other team earlier in the season. While the team they beat them was responsible to beat them, I think it should work against the team that won if they lost to a much lower ranked team.

I think its to ensure against error of the computer system that ranks the teams. If there is a tie that close, the SEC does not want a computer to decide a winner over only 5 ranks.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 4th, 2011 at 9:55 pm and is filed under conferences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Why does the SEC have a different tiebreaker rule than other conferences?”

Sam on December 5th, 2011 at 3:45 am

competitiveness. it makes the sec look that much stronger.
References :
me!
John on December 5th, 2011 at 4:26 am

it makes everyone want to join the SEC and everyone usually gets to………… except the AGGIES!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL
References :
Ben on December 5th, 2011 at 4:52 am

I think its to ensure against error of the computer system that ranks the teams. If there is a tie that close, the SEC does not want a computer to decide a winner over only 5 ranks.
References :
BlueThunder on December 5th, 2011 at 5:05 am

I personally think using opinion polls or a combination of opinion polls and a computer ranking to determine which of 3 tied teams get a position in a conference championship game is just wrong. That determination should be decided by actual performances on the football field.

But I understand why the various conferences use the BCS ranking as one of the division tie-breakers. By putting the highest BCS ranked division team in the conference championship game (and if they win the game) that team has a better chance of being in the BCS National Championship Game. And, that means more money returned to the conference.

The SEC version you describe is complicated but it is more fair to the tied teams than just using the highest BCS ranked team. For example, let’s assume this year, Arkansas beats LSU and those teams plus Alabama are the 3 tied teams in the SEC west.

And, lets assume the final BCS rankings look something like this:
#1 Oklahoma State
#2 Alabama
#3 LSU
#4 Oregon
#5 Oklahoma
#6 Arkansas

By the other conference tie-breaking rules, Alabama would get the nod to represent the west in the SEC championship game.

But with the SEC rules, LSU gets to go to the conference championship game because they beat Alabama head-to-head.
References :

European Conferences