Brian Kelly blunt about wanting to face Alabama annually: 'That's why I came to the SEC'

LSU coach Brian Kelly had a remarkably successful first season in the SEC West, surprising and winning the division crown over traditional power Alabama.

And the now second-year Tigers head coach doesn’t want to see the Crimson Tide disappear from the schedule, which is a possibility if the SEC moves to eliminate divisions but doesn’t add a ninth conference game.

Kelly left no bones about it when asked directly if he wants to face Alabama annually, meeting with reporters at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla., on Tuesday.

“Heck yeah,” Kelly said. “That’s why I came to the SEC, to play in those kinds of games.”

Facing Alabama annually is just one thing up in the air while the league debates a new scheduling format this week, and two factions have emerged within the conference. The majority still seems to favor a move to nine conference games, but there’s a smaller group that is absolutely in favor of remaining at games.

There are a variety of reasons for that.

For one, programs that aren’t quite as competitive annually for College Football Playoff spots are focused on bowl eligibility. And the tougher the conference schedule, the harder it becomes to get to six wins.

Second, there’s concern over how annual rivalries might shape up in a nine-game conference schedule.

Count Kelly in the camp of top-notch competition every week.

“At the end of the day I think my coach, coach Kelly, our coach at LSU, really said it best, ‘Hey, look, I came in here to play the best and be with the best and I want to give the fans the best,’” LSU athletics director Scott Woodward said on the makeshift set of the Paul Finebaum Show in Destin. “I think it makes even more sense now that we’re expanding the playoffs to have tough, good games and you can lose two games and still make the playoffs.”

Woodward would go on to express his desire to schedule marquee non-conference games wherever possible to ensure fans are getting to watch great games.

And judging by Kelly’s comments about wanting to face Alabama annually, it’s probably safe to say he’s in agreement.