Whether the expanded College Football Playoff comes as a blessing or a curse depends on which side of the break you’re on and what your rivals are up to.

It’s a grand development for a team like Penn State, which has finished inside the top 12 of the final playoff rankings six times in the past eight years but never qualified for a four-team playoff.

But, what about for a program like Florida? The Gators would’ve made a 12-team playoff in each of Dan Mullen’s first three seasons. The past three seasons, though, the Gators would’ve have been close to anything short of a 60-team playoff.

Meanwhile, Florida’s rivals would’ve marched into an expanded playoff one by one. It’s nauseating enough for Gators fans to stomach all that Dawg barking after Georgia won consecutive national championships. Now, imagine the feeling in Florida of seeing not only Georgia but also Tennessee making the 2022 playoff, or Georgia and Florida State piling into the playoff last season.

Now consider this season, when Georgia, Tennessee, LSU and FSU profile as a playoff hopeful, while the Gators are positioned for more mediocrity. Billy Napier serving a Mayo Bowl appearance Year 3 while four rivals piled into the playoff would come as some kind of sad consolation, indeed.

In the four-team playoff era, if your team plays for mayonnaise while your rival plays in the Citrus Bowl, a fan fluent in mental gymnastics can convince himself that’s about equivalent. That logic doesn’t hold, though, if your rivals take over the first round of the 12-team playoff. No one wants to see their coach slathered in a gross sandwich condiment while several rivals play for the big kids’ prize.

Are Gators fans really supposed to chant “S-E-C! S-E-C!” while Georgia and Tennessee play in a playoff quarterfinal?

This possibility is not unique to Florida.

Since Tennessee won its last national title, rivals Alabama, Florida and Georgia each won multiple national championships throughout the BCS and four-team playoff eras while the Vols cycled through coaches who ranged from losers to brick masons to cheating losers. A maddening decade-plus for Tennessee, it was, before Josh Heupel’s arrival.

Watching Mullen’s Gators claim a few playoff bids would’ve been gasoline to Tennessee’s mattress fire.

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Maybe, in this instance, it’s better to have fewer rivals than Florida or Tennessee – or at least weaker rivals. Missouri left its rivals behind when it left the Big 12. So what if Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss make the playoff while Mizzou heads to a Florida bowl game? The Tigers still can enjoy the reprieve from the snow with the comfort that Kansas won’t make the playoff either.

Lording superiority over the Jayhawks wouldn’t be a salve for LSU fans. Consider this possibility: LSU narrowly misses the playoff in Brian Kelly’s third season, while Alabama qualifies in Kalen DeBoer’s first season and the Lane Train powers Ole Miss into the first round, as well.

In a four-team playoff, there wouldn’t be room for Alabama and Ole Miss. There might not be room for either this season. With 12 qualifiers, ample room exists for both.

Of course, it also increases the possibility that Kelly’s Tigers will qualify.

So, I reiterate: 12-team playoff, blessing or curse?

“More spots in the playoff creates opportunity,” Kelly told me last month in response to that question.

It’s an opportunity, sure.

It’s an opportunity to either make the playoff, or be relegated to an even more irrelevant bowl game, while rivals revel at the real party.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

A digital subscription will allow you access to all of his coverage. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter.

Could Florida softball’s win in the SEC tournament be a good omen for the upcoming Women’s College World Series?

The Gators have qualified for the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City each of the previous five times they have won the SEC Tournament title. In fact, since the SEC started playing softball conference games in 1997, 16 of the 26 tournament champions coming into this season have advanced to the WCWS.

REQUIRED READING: Florida softball defeats Missouri to win SEC Tournament Championship: Score, highlights from Gators’ win

Since the 2015 season, just two teams have not made it to the WCWS after winning the SEC tournament, including Florida in 2018 and 2019. Tennessee made the World Series last year after winning the tournament. Interestingly, Alabama is the only SEC program to win the World Series and the SEC Tournament in the same season, with the Crimson Tide beating Oklahoma in the 2012 WCWS.

Florida ― the only other national champion in the SEC ― won back-to-back championships in 2014 and 2015 in seasons in which they did not win the SEC Tournament. The Gators did win the regular season titles both years.

Here’s what you need to know about how winning the SEC tournament championship correlates to an appearance in the Women’s College World Series:

Most SEC softball tournament titles

Florida tied Alabama with the most SEC Tournament championships with their victory over Missouri. The Tigers have not won one yet. The Gators’ championship was their first since 2019 while the last one for the Crimson Tide was in 2021.

The first SEC tournament was played in 1997 with South Carolina sweeping the regular season and postseason titles.

• T1. Florida — 6
• T1. Alabama — 6
• 3. LSU — 5
• 4. Tennessee — 3
• T5. South Carolina — 2
• T5. Auburn — 2
• T7. Arkansas — 1 
• T7. Ole Miss — 1
• T7. Georgia — 1

SEC Tournament title and WCWS appearance by season

• 2024 — Florida, TBD
• 2023 — Tennessee, qualified for WCWS
• 2022 — Arkansas, did not qualify
• 2021 — Alabama, qualified
• 2020 — no season
• 2019 — Florida, qualified
• 2018 — Florida, qualified
• 2017 — Ole Miss, did not qualify
• 2016 — Auburn, qualified
• 2015 — Auburn, qualified
• 2014 — Georgia, did not qualify
• 2013 — Florida, qualified
• 2012 — Alabama, qualified
• 2011 — Tennessee, did not qualify
• 2010 — Alabama, did not qualify
• 2009 — Florida, qualified
• 2008 — Florida, qualified
• 2007 — LSU, did not qualify
• 2006 — Tennessee, qualified
• 2005 — Alabama, qualified
• 2004 — LSU, qualified
• 2003 — Alabama, qualified
• 2002 — LSU, did not qualify
• 2001 — LSU qualified
• 2000 — South Carolina, did not qualify
• 1999 — LSU, did not qualify
• 1998 — Alabama, did not qualify
• 1997 — South Carolina, qualified

All across Florida and the United States, people looked into the night sky Friday, May 10, and got to see an amazing sight: the northern lights, or aurora borealis.

What is causing the phenomenon? A very rare geomagnetic storm watch was issued late Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center for a barrage of coronal mass ejections from the sun that could last through the weekend, and possibly into early next week.

Photos posted on social media show the northern lights in the night skies around Florida and the United States.

See the beautifully captured event:

Northern lights or aurora borealis seen in Florida

What is the aurora, or northern lights?

The aurora, or northern lights, are colorful curtains that shimmer in the night sky when charged particles from the sun come hurtling at Earth’s atmosphere. When the particles hit atoms in the atmosphere, it causes reactions in the nucleus of the atoms and the surrounding electrons, which produces the light. Earth’s magnetic field directs the particles toward its poles, where the northern and southern lights can be seen.

Read more on the solar storm watch: Why we may be able to see the northern lights from South Florida

Northern lights seen around the United States

Northern lights seen around the world

Did you capture northern lights in Florida?

We would love to share your photos or videos. Please tell us the location where you capture the lights and send to Laura Lordi at llordi@pbpost.com.

Laura Lordi is Digital Editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at llordi@pbpost.com.