4 minSports
Lane Kiffin Criticizes SEC's Nine-Game Schedule as LSU Faces Tough Stretch
LSU coach Lane Kiffin is blaming the SEC's new nine-game conference schedule for the conference's additional losses, arguing it hurts teams' depth and playoff chances. But critics note the schedule change merely removes a longstanding advantage the SEC held over other conferences.
LSU coach Lane Kiffin is already offering a preemptive explanation for how his team's season might unfold, pointing to the SEC's new nine-game conference schedule as a reason the conference will absorb more losses and see its teams drop in the rankings.
Kiffin's first season in Baton Rouge has been uneven. The Tigers opened with a dominant win over Clemson but later lost to Kentucky, a team they were expected to beat, and fell at Ole Miss in a highly charged return to Oxford for Kiffin. With two losses in seven games, LSU still faces a demanding closing stretch: at Auburn this weekend, home against Alabama, Texas in Baton Rouge, at Tennessee, and a season finale at Arkansas. A program that began the year with College Football Playoff aspirations likely needs to win out to stay in contention.
In a news conference this week, Kiffin said he opposed the SEC's move to a nine-game conference slate, arguing the math guarantees the league eight additional in-conference losses. He pointed to Auburn, which he said would be a top-10 team if its first SEC loss were replaced by a win over a Group of Six opponent. Auburn, he noted, just beat the No. 1 team in the country but remains unranked. Asked whether the nine-game schedule had any positives, Kiffin answered simply, «No.»
He also tied the schedule change to broader structural shifts in college football, including the transfer portal and name, image and likeness compensation. Players can leave every year for more money and join another team within the conference, Kiffin said, making it harder for programs to build depth behind their top players. «Don't add more conference games,» he said, «because now you've got what you got.»
The argument, however, echoes complaints other conferences made for years while the SEC played an eight-game league schedule. SEC programs could count on four non-conference wins, build impressive records, and then supply «ranked» wins and losses within the league — a dynamic that inflated the conference's perceived strength and supported its case for depth. Now that the extra game has removed that advantage, Kiffin is objecting to the consequences.
The SEC will indeed have eight additional losses this season, and they will show up in the standings and the polls, just as they do for every other conference. Kiffin also argued that college football lacks the kind of metrics basketball and baseball use. But efficiency ratings do exist. According to ESPN's SP+ rankings, which adjust for competition and evaluate offense, defense and special teams, the Big Ten has nine teams in the top 30, compared with seven for the SEC — suggesting the Big Ten's depth has been stronger this season.
Auburn, the team Kiffin cited, sits at No. 42 in those rankings, followed by Texas A&M at No. 33, Oklahoma at No. 34, Florida at No. 38 and Mississippi State at No. 48. The gaps between the best and the mediocre are smaller than ever, which helps explain why a team can beat Georgia and still not merit a ranking. The SEC also continues to receive the benefit of the doubt from human poll voters: five SEC teams are currently ranked with two losses, and no other conference has a single two-loss team in the top 25.
For Kiffin and LSU, the immediate task is simpler than the conference schedule debate. The Tigers control their playoff fate only if they win the games in front of them, beginning with Auburn on the road this weekend.
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