Texas and Oklahoma could play each other three times in a season. They are not unique in that respect.
The fact that Texas and Oklahoma could play each other three times in a season and that this is not unique to them is one reason that I wasn't in favor of playoff expansion from two (BCS) to now four and inevitably soon more teams.
Individual regular season games inherently do NOT matter as much as they used to. In the BCS era Bama's loss to Auburn a few years ago and Ohio State's loss to PSU also a few years ago would have been absolutely fatal to Bama/tOSU's NC hopes. Now things like that can be overcome.
Look at two past Ohio State/Michigan games from the Ohio State perspective:
- 1969: Ohio State was #1 and the game was effectively a NC game for Ohio State. The Buckeyes were prohibited by the "no repeat" rule from going to the 1970 Rose Bowl and prohibited by the "no other bowls" rule from going to any other bowl so THE GAME was the last game of Ohio State's season and the Buckeyes were #1. The stakes of that one game in 1969 would now be divided over four games: 1) THE GAME, 2) The B1GCG, 3) the CFP Semi-Final, 4) The CFP final.
- 2002: Ohio State was #2 so the game was effectively a NC quarter-final for Ohio State. There was no B1GCG and there were no CFP Semi-finals. The stakes of that one game in 2002 would now be divided over three games: 1) THE GAME, 2) The B1GCG, 3) the CFP Semi-Final.
No future Ohio State/Michigan game will ever be as big as the 2002 game and that was not as big as the 1969 game.
The CG is a double edged sword, but I view it as the first round of the playoff in effect. I didn't think UGA should have gotten a "do over" last year after losing the CG.
From your perspective as an SEC fan I think it is fair to view the CG as a NC quarter-final. At least so far, no SECCG winner has missed the CFP. Their CFP rankings entering the SECCG:
- 2014: #1 Bama vs #16 Mizzou
- 2015: #2 Bama vs #18 Florida
- 2016: #1 Bama vs # 15 Florida
- 2017: #2 Auburn vs #6 UGA
- 2018: #1 Bama vs #4 UGA
From 2014-2016 the SEC-E Champion probably would have missed the CFP with a win in the SECCG but the last two years it has been obvious that the winner would go and possible that the loser would go as well.
In most conferences the situation is typically more like the SEC in 2014-2016 or worse. Last year's other four CG's:
- #2 Clemson vs nr Pitt
- #5 OU vs #14 UT
- #6 tOSU vs #21 NU
- #11 Washington vs #17 Utah
Pitt, Northwestern, and Utah had no chance whatsoever to make the CFP while Texas probably had no chance and, at a minimum, would have needed a whole lot of help.
For OU, the chance to avenge their earlier loss to the Longhorns and beat a top-15 team was a big boost because it ensured that they ended up ranked ahead of the Bama/UGA loser (although they might not have if UGA had won). For the other three favorites the CG was a clear handicap because the opponent wasn't good enough to boost Clemson's, tOSU's, or Washington's ranking significantly while the possibility of a loss did exist.
I've remarked on these pages in the past that the almost complete lack of CG upsets in the CFP era is both extraordinarily unlikely and extraordinarily unlikely to continue.
At some point soon, a team in a position analogous to #5 OU last year will lose their CG and their conference will lose a CFP slot due to an upset.
