Greg Sankey said Wednesday that final decisions on College Football Playoff expansion are coming sooner rather than later, putting the sport’s biggest postseason format change back at the center of the calendar. The SEC commissioner also said there is openness inside the conference to a 24-team setup, a notable shift as the deadline for a possible change approaches on Dec. 1.
That matters now because the conversation is no longer about whether the idea is alive. It is about whether the SEC and Big Ten will settle the format in time. Sankey said the two leagues are the ones that will ultimately decide the issue, and that scheduling commitments still need to be finalized across the nation before anything becomes official.
Sankey said, “We’ll make some final decisions — probably sooner rather than later — is my expectation,” and added that “attitudes change over time and perspectives change.” He also said, “I think in general, we have achieved some of the progress we’ve expected on scheduling commitments. We’ll see if we can finalize those across the nation.” Those comments point to a process that is moving, but not finished.
The shift inside the SEC is meaningful because it follows earlier resistance to the Big Ten’s push for a 24-team playoff. Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger previously reported that the SEC initially opposed the plan, but Sankey now says, “I think there’s an openness to Playoff expansion on our part.” The ACC and Big 12 have already expressed support for the larger field, but the final call still sits with the SEC and Big Ten.
Brett Yormark has been one of the clearest voices for more access. The Big 12 commissioner said, “More access is good for this conference,” and added that if the 24-team format had existed last year, the Big 12 would have gotten five schools in. “If we had the 24-team format last year, we would have gotten five schools in, and that would be great for this conference. Not good, but great,” he said.
The real trade-off is structural. Adopting 24 teams would require eliminating Power 4 conference championship games to make room for the extra playoff contests, a change that would reshape both the postseason and the regular season. Heather Dinich said all of those championship games carry media value of at least $200 million, which helps explain why the negotiations have been slow even as the discussion has widened.
For now, the unanswered question is not whether expansion is being taken seriously. It is whether the SEC and Big Ten can settle on a final format before Dec. 1, or whether the sport will need more time to decide how much football it wants at the top of the bracket.
