South Carolina HC Shane Beamer takes an eye-opening stance on SEC's playoff future 

The Southeastern Conference had the second-most participation in the inaugural edition of the 12-team College Football Playoff. The trio of Georgia, Texas and Tennessee represented the conference in the playoffs with none of them being able to reach the national championship game.

With a new playoff format in line to be introduced in the 2026 college football season, the conference is willing to have a commanding role in participation. According to reports, Greg Sankey and his conference are seeking to have dedicated automatic spots in the new agreement.

While the idea is still been debated, Shane Beamer is all for it. The South Carolina coach firmly believes that the SEC stands apart in terms of competition on the football field. Because of this, he argues that the conference should be granted a certain number of automatic bids.

"The fact of the matter is, we beat the ACC champion on their field this year and didn’t get in," Beamer said, per On3. "I do believe this league is just different than others, and there has to be some consideration."

Without a doubt SEC has been the most dominant conference in college football this century, winning 12 of the last 18 national championships. However, the league has failed to make it to the national title game in the last two seasons, raising concerns about its strength.

SEC commissioner wants a change to the seCFP bracket in 2025

While the SEC is seeking automatic bids in the CFP agreement which will take off in the 2026 season, the conference commissioner Greg Sankey wants some changes in the current format. He informed The Athletic's Seth Emerson that he is interested in modification.

"Remember when the format was introduced we had what was called the Power 5 and the Group of 5," Sankey said. "There is not a Power 5. We had looked at history, you never meant pulling seeds from outside the (top) 10 really into the top four in this format.”

“And that's now happened. Those are learning experiences, and that informs adaptation. And we've got a responsibility to have what I would consider is a competitive and fair format."

According to Seth Emerson, Greg Sankey has expressed interest in potentially retaining first-round byes for conference champions while implementing a re-seeding process after the opening round. The first edition of the 12-team playoffs has made some mistakes evident.

While Sankey wants some modification, the CFP format remains unchanged for the 2025 season. However, there is no set structure yet for 2026 and beyond. Discussions about potential modifications, including re-seeding after the first round, continue to take shape.