Eight Plus-1 Won't Happen This Year in SEC

In recent days the Southeastern Conference has decided to stick with an eight-game conference slate.
Conference officials made that choice rather than adopting the eight plus-one format that the other big conferences are moving to this season.
Most non-SEC conferences teams are looking at creating a permeant schedule slot for a major Big-5 conference opponent each season.
If you think this rule change is aimed at Ole Miss and games like this year’s contest with Presbyterian, it’s more likely a shot across the bow of big SEC powers Alabama and LSU. The Crimson Tide and Tigers  rarely  play their weak-sister non-conference opponents outside of the friendly confines of Tuscaloosa and Baton Rouge.
Amy Doughters of FBSchedules.com pointed out that:
“The SEC is not stopping its teams from scheduling tough games,” she said. “Rather the conference is betting that its own strength will bridge the gap between nine Big-Five contests and a possible 10 from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and the Pac-12.
“Looking back over the years, the conference has proven to be one of the toughest in the nation,” she added. “Getting through a season in the SEC unscathed for a team is quite an achievement. Most years the winner from the the conference that goes and plays for a national title has at least one loss to a league rival.

Other schools in the SEC like Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Kentucky always try to put themselves in a good contingency by the start of October by having tough competition on their schedule.”
Right now, the SEC  plans to keep their current scheduling scheme in which each division team is free to schedule whatever non conference opponents they choose. As of now, they play eight games out of 12 in the conference. Six of those games are within their division. One of the two non-division SEC games is a set opponent — for Ole Miss that’s Vanderbilt.
The test will be if the SEC manages to get two teams in the final-four-team playoff for the national championship in 2014-15, the first year of the NCAA’s new format.
In the 2016 season, the SEC will be compelled to schedule a game with a team from the Big Five conferences.
—Adam Brown, sports editor of HottyToddy.com