Why I've developed a new slogan for SEC football teams, from Tennessee to LSU to Alabama

Win 10, and you’re in.

That’s the new catchphrase on the minds of SEC football coaches. They might not put it so eloquently or bluntly, but reaching a 10-2 record is on the brain.

In the four-team College Football Playoff era, the path to qualification for the SEC looked like this: Win the SEC Championship, and you’re in. Technically, it wasn’t an automatic bid, but it might as well have been.

Or, don’t win the SEC, finish with no more than one loss, and you’ve got a chance for qualification.

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Tripling the playoff field to 12 teams relaxes the qualification parameters. The SEC will be eligible to claim as many as eight playoff bids this season. That’s one spot for the conference’s champion, plus seven at-large possibilities.

Realistically, the SEC probably will qualify four or five teams.

The SEC’s champion will snag the automatic bid. The SEC’s runner-up won’t earn an automatic bid, but it’s difficult to envision the No. 2 team in the conference not receiving an at-large spot.

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Who else is in? Any SEC team that finishes 10-2 will enjoy very strong positioning for selection.

“Two (losses), you’ve got a fighting chance, if you lose to the right people,” LSU coach Brian Kelly told me earlier this month, in one of the more matter-of-fact assessments you’ll hear about this 12-team playoff that's in place for 2024 and '25.

“Not that anybody is doing the math that way, but (a) 12(-team playoff) kind of gets you thinking, ‘This is a manageable situation.’”

TOPPMEYER: I predict (hypothetical) SEC football division standings. Long live the East and West!

The only thing I disagree with in Kelly’s quote is the “Not that anybody is doing the math that way” part. Of course coaches are doing the math that way. They might not say the quiet part out loud, but coaches from LSU to Missouri to Ole Miss to Alabama to Tennessee must be thinking, "If we can just navigate this schedule with no more than two losses …"

Or, as I put it: Win 10, and you’re in.

Within the SEC, that’s the new: Just win (10), baby.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why I've developed a new SEC football playoff slogan, from Vols to LSU