Sankey: SEC is ‘fine’ with 4-team playoff
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference is just fine keeping the College Football Playoff at four teams, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said – even if the rest of the sport is not.
Sankey, who favored a four- or 12team format as CFP expansion negotiations stalled in February, said Monday he still believes 12-team expansion would benefit the sport for a number of reasons.
But his own league is in good shape regardless of what the future holds.
Not even Sankey knows what that is.
The playoff will remain at four teams through the 2025 season, when the current contract expires, but after that, “There’s nothing that exists after Year 12,” Sankey said at the Associated Press Sports Editors Southeast regional meeting. “There’s not the bowl relationships; there’s not a media relationship; there’s not a College Football Playoff format come the 2026 season.”
So from Sankey’s perspective?
“We can stay at four,” he said. “This conference will thrive at four. Period. That’s not healthy for the rest of FBS college football, but we can stay at four.”
In February, the College Football Playoff management committee was unable to reach an expansion agreement, deciding to abandon efforts to implement a 12team format for the 2024 season. For supporters of expansion, it brought a frustrating end to negotiations that had seemingly gained traction in recent months.
Two SEC teams faced off in last season’s CFP National Championship, with
Georgia beating Alabama, 33-18.
Twelve of the last 16 national champs are SEC teams, and in the eight-year history of the College Football Playoff, the SEC is the only conference with a qualifying team every season.
The last three national champions are Georgia, Alabama and LSU.
“People apparently didn’t take me seriously when I said we can leave it at four,” Sankey said. “So I sat there watching that (Alabama-Georgia) game, thinking they just thought I wasn’t serious.”
“I don’t think people heard me, but I’ll say it clearly today,” Sankey said. “We can stay at four.”