What Would Have to Happen for the SEC to Miss the Playoff in 2015?

After two straight seasons without a major bowl win in the BCS or the "New Year's Six" that include the College Football Playoff, the foundation of SEC power has developed some cracks. 

Coaches from around the country recognize the surprising instability of the SEC's pedestal, and they are taking shots and knocking it down during "talkin' season."

Jimbo Fisher, head coach of the 2013 national champion Florida State Seminoles, is one of them, according to Chris Low of ESPN.com.

Fisher has also started the playoff political race early, lobbying against "SEC power" if the conference cannibalizes itself, according to Joe Schad of ESPN.

Generally speaking, Fisher is right. Although it's incredibly silly for him—or anybody—to speak in such absolutes without knowing specifically how a season plays out, how those losses came about, what other teams are in contention and other specific resume bullet points that are part of the decision-making process.

I wrote last week that the SEC has lost the benefit of the doubt in terms of its best team undoubtedly being considered the best in the nation simply because of that SEC patch on its jersey. That's the way it really should be anyway, because, as Dave Bartoo of CFBMatrix.com noted on Twitter, strength of schedule should only matter when everything else is equal.

If the SEC champ has one loss and every other Power Five champ runs the table, there's a good chance that the SEC would be left out. Unblemished is unblemished, and while that SEC champ might be better than one or more of those undefeated teams, losses do (and should) count for a lot in the race for the four slots in the playoff.

In years past, that might not have been the case.

We saw one-loss Alabama ranked No. 1 ahead of undefeated Florida State last year after the Seminoles struggled mightily to maintain that undefeated season throughout the regular season. But there was never any doubt that Florida State should be in the playoff, the debate was just on where.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Alabama wouldn't get the benefit of the doubt if the same circumstances occurred this year, and undefeated conference champs would almost certainly get the late bump from the committee after the conference championship games.

What if the Big 12, ACC and Pac-12 champs are unbeaten and the debate becomes one-loss Big Ten champ Ohio State or Michigan State vs. one-loss SEC champ?

Historically, that would have been a no-brainer in favor of the SEC. After what Ohio State did last year, though, I'm not so sure.

Another wrench that could be thrown in the works this year is Notre Dame.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

I know, I know, ever since the Fighting Irish got throttled by the Crimson Tide in the BCS National Championship Game following the 2012 season, they've been a polarizing force in college football discussions and viewed largely as "overrated."

That might change this year. Head coach Brian Kelly's crew returns a potentially potent offense that features a stud tackle, a defense that features tackle Ronnie Stanley and wide receiver Will Fuller, linebacker Jaylon Smith and defensive back KeiVarae Russell, and a schedule that—at least by Notre Dame standards—is forgiving.

Keep in mind that the SEC is a conference that has had just four undefeated conference champs this century, one of which was LSU in 2011 which lost the national title game. If that happens again and Notre Dame either runs the table or finishes with one loss, would the SEC get the nod over the Irish?

I'm not so sure.

Notre Dame could knock a second Power Five conference out of the mix on selection Sunday, and the SEC could be one of the conferences sweating it out.

The bottom line, though, is that the benefit of the doubt is gone, the SEC patches on the front of those jerseys don't matter as much as they used to in the minds of voters/committee members and teams will judged on their individual merit moving forward.

More often than not, the SEC will still land the SEC champ in the playoff. But if an upset occurs in the SEC Championship Game or the conference cannibalizes itself while others don't, it could be on the outside looking in this season and beyond.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.