SEC Spring Meetings: Playoff Consensus Has Formed and More Day 3 Musings

The third day of the SEC spring meetings wasn't as contentious as the previous two, which, not coincidentally, means that more got accomplished.

There were no thinly-veiled verbal jabs at Kentucky, no ridiculous suggestions to play SEC games as non-conference games and no more lobbying to pay players out of a private fund.

As Bret and Jemaine would say on Flight of the Conchords, "It's business time."

SEC Developing Playoff Consensus

The playoff reform will vault college football into another level of popularity—assuming that it's executed properly. The way to do that is to reward the fans with what they want: a four-team playoff that provides the opportunity for worthy (key word) teams the chance to decide which one is best on the field.

The way to do that is to take the top four, regardless of conference affiliation, and play them off. The SEC appears to be on board, according to Andy Staples of SI.com.

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Florida prez Bernie Machen said he believes SEC playoff plan will be top 4, semis in bowls, title game bid out.

— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) May 31, 2012"

Good for the SEC.

When the sport of college football is healthy, the rest of the conferences will follow suit. The goal should be to maximize the potential of the sport as a whole, not grant access to appease particular conferences.

Yes, the SEC would stand to gain the most from the absence of automatic bids right now, but conference power is fluid in college football.

6-1-1 Schedule Format Still Leads

LSU head coach Les Miles and athletic director Joe Alleva may not like it, but it appears that the 6-1-1 scheduling model will likely be adopted beyond the 2012 season, according to Seth Emerson of the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph.

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Florida president Machen also believes a 6-1-1 format will be adopted for football scheduling.

— Seth Emerson (@SethEmerson) May 31, 2012"

The 6-1-1 format means that teams will play six games within the division, one permanent cross-division rival and one rotating cross-division game.

Good for the SEC. The foundation of the conference is its tradition, and there is no way that SEC commissioner Mike Slive is going to eliminate traditional rivalries like Alabama vs. Tennessee and Auburn vs. Georgia. There's also no way he's going to allow those teams to play "non-conference games" against each other.

That's just silly.

Player Stipend Won't Happen

Steve Spurrier came armed to the spring meetings last season with the idea to pay players out of a fund that coaches contribute to. It wasn't adopted last year, and it won't be this year, according to Scott Hood of GamecockCentral.com. 

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Machen also said Steve Spurrier's proposal to reimburse players for game-related expenses like travel & food for families isn't on agenda

— Scott Hood (@ScottHood63) May 31, 2012"

Spurrier is an idea man, but he sometimes forgets about the execution part. If we start paying players—even if it's by broadening the definition of "per diem"—it'll have to be at the NCAA level.

Even then, there will be roughly 45 more hurdles to clear before making it legal.

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