Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne became the most recent administrator to come out against conference championship games. Despite appearing in 10 of the last 14 SEC title games — including the 2025 version — Byrne believes that the competition has outlived its usefulness.
“I think the ship has sailed,” Byrne told USA Today. “It’s run its course. … It’s a great event. I don’t like the idea of it going away, but I think it’s reality, with an expanded playoff.”
Conference championship games are a relatively new invention in the history of college football. The SEC started playing one in 1992, after the league added Arkansas and created divisions. When Texas and Oklahoma joined the league, divisions went away, but a title game remained.
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At this point, every FBS conference plays a conference title game on either the final Friday or Saturday before the College Football Playoff’s Selection Sunday. The games are especially consequential at the power conference level, where the winner is vying for an auto-bid to the CFP.
However, many have started coming out against the games in recent years. Lane Kiffin made headlines at Ole Miss in 2024 by saying that coaches would rather not play in the game, even with a potential bye on the line. More…
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