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\u201cThere\u2019s a lot going on,\u201d Sankey espoused from the stage.<\/p>\n
But perhaps the most noteworthy of those items, certainly the one drawing the most attention from football fans, is a little thing called the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n
Though Sankey didn\u2019t reveal much groundbreaking or new about the future of the playoff \u2014 the format starting next year remains unclear \u2014 his time spent on the issue is a good reminder of how important and divisive the subject is.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the gist: The CFP\u2019s original 12-year contract with ESPN ends after this season, and a new six-year extension struck with the network last spring begins in 2026 with, what was believed to be, a new, potentially expanded playoff. An important note to this is that the SEC and Big Ten hold authority over a future format and must agree on a model before it moves forward, according to CFP director Rich Clark \u2014 the result of a memorandum signed by the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame last year.<\/p>\n
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Here\u2019s the problem: The SEC and Big Ten, thought at first to be aligned behind a format with multi-automatic qualifiers for a single conference, is not aligned after all. And it\u2019s unclear if they will get aligned before Dec. 1 \u2014 the date ESPN executives gave to CFP leaders as a deadline for any decisions for the 2026 playoff.<\/p>\n
As Sankey noted in his comments here Monday \u2014 the kickoff to the four-day SEC media days extravaganza in downtown Atlanta \u2014 there is a real possibility that the playoff remains, at least for next year, at its current 12-team format and not the 14- or 16-team model that\u2019s been discussed. \u201cThat can stay if we don\u2019t agree,\u201d Sankey said.<\/p>\n
But why don\u2019t they agree?<\/p>\n
Well, many thought they were close to agreeing on what\u2019s been deemed a \u201c4-4-2-2-1\u201d format that grants twice as many automatic qualifiers to the SEC and Big Ten (4 each) as the ACC and Big 12 (2 each). Though many of its athletic directors supported the Big Ten\u2019s multi-AQ model, SEC coaches spoke against it enough in May during the league\u2019s spring meetings that the focus, at least for the SEC, shifted toward a format with a bigger at-large pool, such as what\u2019s termed a \u201c5+11\u201d format: five automatic qualifiers for conference champions, plus 11 at-large selections.<\/p>\n
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SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addresses the media during SEC media days on July 14. (Jeffrey Vest\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Big Ten administrators have noted gripes with this format, including the fact that the SEC plays one fewer conference game (eight) than its own league (nine) \u2014 a potential advantage in playoff selection for a postseason with a big at-large pool.<\/p>\n
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Is the simple solution the SEC moving to nine conference games, both leagues then agreeing on a 5+11 model and then everyone going about their business? Perhaps.<\/p>\n
But enough SEC coaches and administrators are against a move to nine conference games without a change to the criteria that the CFP selection committee uses to make its at-large picks.<\/p>\n
And many of them believe that the SEC\u2019s eight-game conference schedule is just as tough or more difficult than the Big Ten\u2019s nine-game conference schedule \u2014 something Sankey even suggested from the podium Monday. Every SEC team plays a ninth game against a power conference team \u2014 a conference requirement that, Sankey noted, not everyone else has (the Big Ten does not have that requirement).<\/p>\n
Round and round, this goes. Where it ends, no one seems to know.<\/p>\n
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CFP officials are in the midst of making adjustments to the selection criteria used by the committee. Here in Atlanta, more specifics were revealed on those two changes.<\/p>\n
For one, CFP staff proposed to commissioners an adjustment to the committee\u2019s strength-of-schedule ranking that gives more weight to games played, for instance, against the top 30-40 programs in the country.<\/p>\n
Secondly, a new data point, \u201cstrength of record,\u201d has been created, Sankey said, that grants more weight to good wins and doesn\u2019t penalize programs as much for losses against ranked or top teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we’re talking about win-loss records, they’re not all the same, based upon what conference you’re in and who you play,\u201d LSU coach Brian Kelly said. \u201cWhat\u2019s the selection process going to be? That will generate the answer to the other questions \u2014 how many teams (in the playoff) and what your conference schedule looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Are these changes enough to convince SEC officials to move to a ninth conference game? It\u2019s uncertain, but that decision likely needs to be made for 2026 by the time this football season kicks off. It\u2019s why many believe the league continues to lean toward remaining at eight SEC games and, thus, the playoff may remain at 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch more work is needed,\u201d Sankey said of the criteria changes. \u201cWe have to see the homework, but the direction of the discussion is viewed positively with the need for timely decision making.\u201d<\/p>\n
And what of the Big Ten? The league holds its football media days next week in Las Vegas, as well as meetings among their athletic directors where, surely, the playoff discussion will be a topic.<\/p>\n
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, meanwhile, has remained mostly quiet during this summer of playoff drama. He did record a 30-minute interview with Fox\u2019s Joel Klatt last month where Petitti re-emphasized his support for the 4-4-2-2-1 as a way to eliminate the subjectivity of the selection committee, incentivize more top-25 non-conference matchups among the power leagues and hold play-in style conference games at the year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n
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