LSU football coach Brian Kelly saw wisdom in the SEC waiting until the College Football Playoff format is settled for 2026 and beyond before potentially moving to a nine-game schedule.

“I know if I was negotiating it, I would hold that,” Kelly told reporters.

It seems unlikely that the league will make any lasting decisions about whether to stick at eight games or add the ninth. An additional SEC game allows the league to make most of its storied rivalries stick around on a yearly basis, but there are other factors.

Kelly, who favors the nine-game slate, as well as a potential scheduling agreement that could see SEC teams play a Big Ten school each year, explained some of the factors involved.

“At the end of the day, the coaches as a group, we want to do what will allow the most opportunities for our teams to get into the playoffs,” Kelly said. “And so, whether that’s eight or nine. You gotta see, the athletics directors are looking at it from a number of different perspectives, right? Maybe, potentially another game at home, right?

“So that’s outside our purview. So everything that we’ve talked about is strictly about what gives us the best opportunity.”

Including representatives for Alabama, some were tentative about adding the ninth game, questioning whether it would be rewarded by the playoff committee. Some of the CFP proposals include auto-bids for the SEC, which would likely assuage concerns about access for teams that lose games in an extended league schedule.

“You can imagine, some in the room were like, ‘We don’t want to play another game, it’s a potential loss, we’re playing an SEC team,’” Kelly said. “Others are like, ‘You know what? Let’s go down this road, because maybe there’s some opportunity for the selection committee to look at this a little bit differently than just the right column, the right-hand column, losses.’ There’s a difference between a good loss and losing to a team that’s not very good.”

Views in the room may vary, but Kelly explained why he was pro-expansion to nine.

“I’m in the SEC because I want to play SEC games,” Kelly said. “They matter. When you go on the road in the SEC, it’s a different deal. I mean, I love that. After doing it for 35 years, I wanted the competition. You’re not gonna get everybody feeling the way I do in our room. I’m a guy who would like to play as many games against SEC teams as possible.”

The SEC will continue spring meetings through Thursday in Miramar Beach, Fl.