Hugh Freeze ponders how scheduling model could impact SEC in new College Football Playoff

As the SEC continues talks over a new scheduling model for the conference, new Auburn coach Hugh Freeze is content to take a bit of a back seat.

He’s new to Auburn but he’s certainly not new to the SEC. Even so, Freeze is leaving most of the decision-making and opining up to his athletics director and university president.

“As for Auburn, what is best for the SEC, are those things the same?” Freeze wondered on Tuesday. “I know all those discussions will take place. From a football coach’s perspective, the biggest question I would have is as important as those games are to us, how does the playoff look at it? If you’re an SEC opponent and you’re really quality and you’ve won a lot of good games but you drop two to top teams or a third one, do you still get in?

“And when the playoff expands, I think all of those are unknown.”

It’s unclear the SEC will even make a scheduling model decision this week, in part because of that concern Freeze outlined.

What will things look like when the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams in 2024? What metrics will be most valuable to the committee? Until those types of things are clear, the SEC might just stand pat as close to status quo as possible.

Freeze is fine with waiting.

“Ultimately I think we as coaches just say, ‘Hey, give us our marching orders. Tell us what it is and what is best for our conference and hopefully it aligns with what’s best for our school,'” Freeze said. “But ultimately I think it’s in the right hands with it being in the ADs and presidents and obviously the commissioner and his staff. Whatever comes out of that then let’s go do it.”

Some coaches have already made clear whether they favor an eight-game or nine game scheduling model. Freeze left things a touch ambiguous when asked directly.

“What is best for Auburn. I don’t know that I’m the authority to say that,” he said. “Are you guys going to put us in with three losses in the playoffs if we run the table on everybody else? All of those things are what coaches are going to think about.

“How do we best position ourselves and satisfy our fans and all of that is kind of difficult.”

Having said that, Freeze certainly doesn’t sound scared of moving to a nine-game scheduling model. That model would help preserve more of the secondary rivalries in the SEC, but it would presumably make schedules even tougher.

The Tigers will be ready for it if things play out that way.

“I love coaching in big games. Our players love playing in big games at Auburn,” Freeze said. “They should. They have in the past, and I want to get that back. There’s so many unknowns with what’s coming in the future and then I haven’t even talked about the money stuff with; thank God I’m not in those discussions with the TV money and what that means to each institution. I think our ADs and presidents will make the right decision along with commissioner (Greg) Sankey.”