For years, the SEC has enjoyed a bit of an advantage over other conferences when it comes to record, rankings, and strength of schedule: they played fewer conference games.
The Pac-12, when that conference existed in its previous form, for example, played nine games against other conference teams. So did the Big Ten. The SEC, however, had just eight. With four non-conference opponents, some schools could choose to schedule four likely wins, before entering SEC play.
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An ideal example is the 2025 Missouri Tigers. Missouri’s non-conference slate was Central Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, and Massachusetts. Four games in which they’d be overwhelming favorites, four wins secured before conference play started.
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Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz reacts during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)
Missouri proceeded to win just four conference games, 29-20 over South Carolina, 23-17 over Auburn in double overtime, a 49-27 win over Mississippi State, and 31-17 over Arkansas. But, thanks in large part to their four scheduled wins, the Tigers remained in the AP Poll for most of the season, providing a “ranked” opponent for Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Alabama, and Oklahoma. They did not beat a team that finished the season with a winning record on their way to finishing 8-4.
Incredibly, with this resume, the Tigers were ranked in 12 of 16 polls during the regular season. And why not? 8-4 doesn’t look bad, does it? That’s a solid season in a tough conference, if you aren’t paying close attention. Now remove one of those scheduled non-conference wins, and suddenly the road to 8-4 looks a lot harder. Which is the point other conferences made when arguing against the SEC’s endless complaints about strength of schedule.
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Well, for 2026, the SEC finally moved to nine conference games and eliminated the “extra” win many of the member programs used to their advantage. And even through just a few weeks of conference play, new LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin is already using it as an excuse.
LSU head coach Lane Kiffin gestures toward an official during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Ahead of last weekend’s matchup against Texas A&M, Kiffin complained sarcastically, and inaccurately, about the perceived scheduling issues hurting the Tigers with Marcel
“Obviously we just played the best one in the country last week thinking he can hurt you even when you have the right call on and everybody covered and a guy comes free,” he said. “Obviously he (Chambliss) played great a year ago here in the stadium, so this is one of those scheduling quirks just like last week where never in that LSU-Ole Miss series had it ever been played two times in a row.”
That was, of course, incorrect, but Kiffin wasn’t done there in going after the SEC for its scheduling practices. LSU is dealing with its fair share of injuries through the first few weeks of the season, including to star linebacker Whit Wheeks and tight end Trey’Dez Green.
Per ESPN’s Marty Smith, LSU’s injuries are a direct result of the SEC’s nine-game conference schedule. Which is odd because his team has played just two conference games so far.
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Smith posted that Kiffin explained that it’s an indication of the differences “versus other conferences, and how (they) don’t have to play players or play them as long.”
“Be careful what you wish for, SEC,” Kiffin said.
Head Coach Lane Kiffin of the LSU Tigers prepares to face the Ole Miss Rebels at Vaught Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 19, 2026. (University Images via Getty Images)
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Ah. Yes. Classic Lane Kiffin. There is no outcome that doesn’t have a predetermined excuse. No other schools face injuries. No other games require playing starters. When the SEC had eight conference games, it wasn’t an advantage, but with nine, they’re at a significant disadvantage. Even when they’ve only played two conference games so far. One of those games was against a very bad Texas A&M team, where the score was 35-6 in the fourth quarter and the outcome was never in much doubt.
The Tigers shouldn’t have much to worry about with powerhouse McNeese State coming into town next weekend either.
Curiously, Kiffin never addresses the impact of travel, rest, and recovery on other conferences. Like, for example, USC, which played a road game in New Jersey, then turned around and played a home game in LA a week later. That’s a ~6,000 mile round trip road game. LSU’s longest road trip of the season is Lexington, Kentucky. Their entire travel schedule is less than one USC road game. That stuff matters as Kiffin would say if it were impacting his team.
UCLA has road games traveling 8,120 one-way miles. USC is 9,500 miles. Just a few examples. The “woe is me” act Kiffin puts on might be effective for the SEC boosters in friendly media outlets. It’s just not backed up by any reality we live in. But it’s a near-certainty he’ll be running the same playbook after the season to try and get the SEC back to eight conference games. Then he’ll find something else to complain about.