Greg Sankey says CFP could stay at 12 teams ‘if we can’t agree’ on expanded format

ATLANTA — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday that expansion of the College Football Playoff is not a done deal, and that the format could just remain at 12 if he and other commissioners, especially his Big Ten counterpart, cannot agree on an expanded format.

At the moment, they do not.

Sankey’s remarks came during a question-and-answer period on the first day of SEC media days. And based on what he said, it now appears the SEC sides with the Big 12, ACC and Group of 5 on the preferred format, leaving the Big Ten alone in preferring a model heavy on automatic bids.

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“We had a different view coming out of (SEC meetings) around the notion of allocations, if you will,” Sankey said, meaning automatic bids. “I think you’ll probably hear that again from our coaches. The Big Ten has a different view, that’s fine.”

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has proposed a format where the Big Ten and SEC would get four automatic bids to the CFP, the ACC and Big 12 two apiece, and one more for the highest-ranked champion of another conference. The rest of the bids would be at-large, with the field expanding to 14 or 16.

Other conferences prefer a “5+11” model, with automatic bids for the five highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large bids. Either way, a 16-team format appeared to have enough momentum that it seemed a foregone conclusion.

That still could be the case, but Sankey pushed back on it Monday.

“We have a 12-team Playoff, five conference champions. That could stay if we can’t agree,” Sankey said. “I think there’s this notion that there has to be this magic moment and something has to happen with expansion.”

The SEC and Big Ten have the authority to essentially put in their preferred format in the CFP beginning with the 2026 season, according to a memorandum of understanding agreed to last year. But they also have to consult with the other conferences, Sankey pointed out. He said he spoke about three times last week with ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, and about four times with Petitti. He did not say whether he spoke with the Big 12’s Brett Yormark, whose conference had media days last week.

“We don’t need unanimity. And ultimately, if (there isn’t unanimity), there’s a level of authority granted to the SEC and the Big Ten together,” Sankey said. “But there’s a lot to that. It’s not you just show up, you pound your fist and something happens. I hope that type of narrative can be reduced. But we’ll keep talking. We talk a lot. Probably too much sometimes.”

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Rich Clark, the head of the CFP, was asked how this would come to an end, and if Sankey and Petitti would need to agree to disagree at some point.

“Well, at some point, if they do agree to disagree then that’s a decision in itself because then we stick with the status quo,” Clark said.

At the last full meeting of the management committee, CFP staff presented the commissioners with a new strength of record metric that could be used by the selection committee to emphasize schedule strength.

“What Greg is saying there’s information he needs to have to make an informed and good decision. And we owe him that,” Clark said. “We’re going to keep on providing and working on some of the metrics, because they matter, so that the selection process can be something they can have faith in, and that they trust. Because the 5+11 format relies heavily on the selection committee. The improvements we make with the selection committee help them make a decision in confidence.”

Sankey also reiterated that the SEC schedule format would be tied to the CFP selection. The SEC currently plays eight conference games and has been considering going to nine games ever since adding Oklahoma and Texas. But debate over finances, and now what it means for the CFP selection process, has held it up.

“I don’t believe there’s anyone looking to swap their conference schedule and its opponents with the SEC’s … be it eight or nine,” Sankey said. “We’re going to continue to evaluate whether increasing our number of conference games is appropriate for us. And as I’ve said repeatedly, understanding how the CFP will evaluate strength of schedule and strength of record is critically important in our decision making.”

(Photo: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)

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