MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — College Football Playoff officials gave a show-your-work explanatory presentation to Southeastern Conference football coaches Tuesday. According to four sources, it didn’t go over well.“People were not happy,” one source familiar with the presentation and reaction tells Sports Illustrated.“It was ridiculous,” says a second source.The CFP representatives, including executive director Rich Clark, were tasked with explaining their controversial selection process. That included going through strength-of-record metrics and their impact on the final rankings that selected the 12 teams for the 2025–26 playoff. At particular issue for some in the room was the explanations for the rankings of Big 12 teams Texas Tech and BYU in relation to several SEC squads. Penalties for losses were a particular frustration.The Red Raiders (12–2) played a cream puff nonconference schedule of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Kent State and Oregon State that did not prevent them from locking up a No. 4 seed and a first-round playoff bye. According to those familiar with the CFP presentation, Tech’s high CFP analytics ratings were a reflection of several blowout wins while going 9–1 against Big 12 opponents (all nine victories were by a minimum of 22 points). Its lone pre-playoff loss, at Arizona State, did not result in a major hit to the Red Raiders’ strength of record.BYU (12–2), which was the second team out of the 12-team bracket after Notre Dame, was penalized less for two blowout losses to Texas Tech than some SEC teams were for closer losses—both within the league, and in nonconference play. SEC coaches pushed back against that.Per sources in the room, one league coach whose team was in the playoff mix but did not make the field said he felt worse after hearing the presentation than he did when his team was excluded on Selection Sunday.Neither the Big 12 nor the SEC fared well in the playoff last season. Texas Tech, the lone Big 12 representative, was blown out at home by Oregon after receiving a first-round bye. Of the playoff-high five SEC teams in the field, only one (Mississippi) scored a victory over a non-SEC opponent, and none advanced past the semifinals.Much of the blowback centered on a persistent belief among SEC coaches and athletic directors that many losses within their league are a byproduct of top-to-bottom strength. Every road game, they argue, is a difficult endeavor—something they believe might be less true in other conferences. (Including the Big 12, which was the primary point of comparison.)“Look, I’m biased,” said Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the SEC. I was part of the mock [CFP selection] exercise a number of years ago and one of the things that took me back is when people would say things like, ‘That was a bad loss,’ or ‘That wasn’t a great win.’“And to me, that’s hard to say when you go to some of these venues, especially at night. When you judge Texas on the loss at Florida last year and say that’s going to be a massive hit to their résumé. Well, Florida’s a really tough team and that’s a really tough place to play.”Texas losing to Florida last season was the game that kept the Longhorns out of the CFP. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn ImagesTexas finished 9–3 and No. 13 in the CFP rankings, with road losses to Ohio State and Georgia in addition to the defeat in The Swamp. It was clear that losing to a Florida team that was 1–3 at the time, and finished 4–8, was the game that kept the Longhorns out of the playoff.While banging the drum, as always, for SEC strength of schedule, Brooks said he’s a believer in the human element of playoff selection. Metrics only tell a partial story.“That’s where the human elements got to come in because the data won’t always tell the tale,” Brooks said. “I give the committee credit. It’s not just off data, but they’re presenting what the data says to them. But we all know data can be used. We can pull data out to prove one point here, one point there. I think the human element is very important because not all wins are equal. You can get into metrics, but depending on your style of play, you can game the system a little bit. There’s so many factors that you’ll never be able to measure.”With the SEC moving to nine league games this fall, there will be more losses. League officials are concerned that the CFP selection committee will do what it’s long been accused of doing—fixating more on win-loss record than strength of schedule. For that reason, expect the SEC to continue to push for more weight to be given to quality wins and quality losses.That traditional benefit-of-the-doubt argument has lost some persuasion with the SEC failing to win the CFP national championship the last three seasons. But commissioner Greg Sankey insisted Wednesday that the league still has the strongest overall membership in the nation.“If you look at the entirety of our league, we are by far the most competitive,” he said. “By far. The breadth, the depth of this league, this league stands alone.”More College Football From Sports IllustratedListen to SI’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s College YouTube channel.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow