SEC Reveals Tiebreaker Rules for Title Game in Expanded 16-Team Divisionless Format | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors

With the addition of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC this season, the conference has transitioned to a 16-team, non-divisional league.

That could potentially mean a chaotic race to the SEC Championship Game. On Wednesday, the conference outlined its tiebreaker procedures in the event two or more teams tie for one of the title games, ESPN’s Chris Low reported.

The following tiebreakers are applied in order until the tie is decided:

1. A straight duel.
2. Record against shared conference opponents.
3. Record against the highest-ranked common opponent in the conference standings “and the ranking of tied teams.”
4. Cumulative percentage of conference wins by conference opponents.
5. “Capped relative scoring margin against all conference opponents between tied teams. The formula includes a cap of 42 points scored on offense and 48 points allowed on defense.”
6. Random draw.

The team that is at the top of the conference standings at the end of the season is the home team in the conference championship. If two teams are tied for first place in the conference, they both advance to the conference title game, but the team that wins the tiebreaker is the home team.

The match will be played on neutral ground at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on December 7.

The fascinating aspect of this, of course, is if more than two teams end up tied for one of the potential title games. It will be interesting to see how a team responds to a team missing the SEC Championship Game due to an unclear tiebreaker scenario.

Such is the new world of FBS football, as conference alignment has completely changed the game. Like the SEC, the Big Ten has also moved to a divisionless format, which could prove even more complex and controversial given that it has 18 members compared to the SEC’s 16.