Time is of the essence for college football’s power brokers to decide on a playoff format for 2026, with a Dec. 1 deadline looming for a final decision.
And as the rubber begins to hit the road, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is coming around to another expansion. Speaking with The Athletic over the weekend, Sankey called expanding the College Football Playoff to 16 teams a “priority.” In recent months, Sankey had been wishy-washy on expansion, suggesting the current 12-team format could remain, as the Big Ten and SEC remained at odds over the best format to implement for a 16-team playoff.
The commissioner’s comments would seem to signal that expansion for next season is a strong possibility.
Per The Athletic, “Sankey reiterated that he favors getting rid of automatic qualifiers for conference champions and going to a completely at-large field. But he also reiterated that he doesn’t think that’s realistic…”
Two proposed formats have taken shape as college football eyes expansion to 16 teams. One format, favored by the SEC, would award automatic bids to the four power-conference champions and one automatic qualifier from the Group of 5, with 11 teams earning at-large spots. Another format, favored by the Big Ten, would feature four automatic qualifiers from both the Big Ten and the SEC, two automatic bids for the ACC and the Big 12, one bid for the Group of 5, and three at-large slots.
Sankey believes more automatic qualifying spots would be “problematic,” as teams outside the top-12 could get in over teams ranked within it.
Conference commissioners will need to decide within the next two weeks whether any proposed format is strong enough to consider for next season; otherwise, the current 12-team playoff is here to stay for at least another year.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.