HOOVER — A couple of Southeastern Conference coaches who have gone through the Bowl Championship Series said they like that the new playoff format won't end the bowl system.

Florida coach Will Muschamp was an assistant coach for LSU when it won the national title in 2003 and the 2009 Texas team that was runner-up to Alabama. Mississippi State's Dan Mullen was an assistant for Florida's 2006 and 2008 national champions.

The playoff system will begin in 2014 and include four teams.

"The bowl system is intact, and I think that's great," Muschamp said today at SEC Media Days. "Really, the bowl system is a great reward for the student-athlete. It's a great reward for the coach and his wife to go some place for three, four days, stay in a nice hotel, have nice meals.

"A lot of young people, they don't get to do stuff like that."

Added Mullen: "With the bowl system, we had a bunch of seniors leave winning a (bowl) championship in their last football game last year. ... That's their lasting memory of football. The majority of them, that will be the last game they play."

Mullen said he's waiting to see how the playoff system works out. Although he helped coach two national champions at Florida, he also recalls being an assistant for an unbeaten Utah team that didn't play for the title.

"That would have been a neat opportunity to go to a playoff game," he said.

Kentucky coach Joker Phillips said he figures the playoff system will benefit the Southeastern Conference. For now, the rules don't say that only conference champions can be included.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time, two of the teams are going to be in this league," Phillips said. "I like that format."