Which teams would make an SEC-only playoff next season?

SEC football fans would love it should the league break off and do its own thing in the future.

An SEC-only playoff would be a fever dream for SEC football fans everywhere, and nowhere else.

While the idea of an SEC-only playoff is strictly a leverage play by league commissioner Greg Sankey and nothing more, the current four-team format of the College Football Playoff expires at the end of the 2025 season. Sankey and the SEC may be cool with this format being here to stay, but other Power Five conferences have been squeezed out by SEC dominance. What if it broke off?

Let’s play hypotheticals and see where this wormhole takes us. What teams would make the SEC-only playoff if it went into effect this season? Get your popcorn ready because it just means more!

SEC football: What would SEC-only playoff look like in 2022 college season?

Because Oklahoma and Texas are not joining the SEC this season, we will keep the Sooners and the Longhorns out of the discussion for the time being, although 16 teams would make this exercise even more fun. Besides who is getting in, the big question is how large will the field be? It will be at least four, but probably not all 14 members institutions because Vanderbilt is so terrible.

If it were four, the teams would be Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M and Kentucky, probably in that order. Since divisions are probably going away entirely once Oklahoma and Texas join the league, they are not going to matter in this exercise either. Who wouldn’t want to see the Aggies take on the Dawgs in Athens and the Wildcats face Alabama at Bryant-Denny before an Atlanta title bout?

A six-team machination works because it gives the top two teams a bye: Alabama and Georgia. Let’s just say Arkansas and Tennessee are the next two teams in. The No. 5 Hogs would take on No. 4 Kentucky in Lexington, while the No. 6 Vols would square off with No. 3 Texas A&M at Kyle Field. The No. 5 vs. No. 4 winner goes to Alabama, while the No. 3 vs. No. 6 winner goes to Athens.

An eight-team field adds LSU and Mississippi State. The Bayou Bengals would go to Athens, while the Bulldogs would take the 90 Mile Drive to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama again. 10 and 12-team machinations could work with South Carolina, Ole Miss, Florida and Auburn all joining the party as massive underdog seeds. The point is any SEC-only playoff does not include Mizzou or Vanderbilt…

Ultimately, the SEC would, in theory, treat this like a college basketball tournament to compete for eyeballs with whatever the other leagues decide to do. If they are going rogue, they can do whatever they want. If they want to have all 16 member institutions take part in it throughout the holiday once Oklahoma and Texas come into the fold, so be it. It is all about it just meaning more.

An SEC-only playoff is not for everyone, but that thing would draw massive numbers regionally.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.