Greg Sankey Says College Football Playoff Expansion Talks Are ‘Picking Up Steam’: SEC Commissioner Pushes for Change
The college football playoff is two years old in its 12-team format. The conversation about expanding it again is already heating up.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey publicly addressed playoff expansion talks this week and acknowledged that conversations are “picking up steam” across the major conferences. The current 12-team field has worked logistically. Whether it has worked competitively is the question that has the room divided.
The SEC, predictably, is in favor of more access. Sankey has not pretended otherwise.
The Case for 14 or 16 Teams
The 12-team format produced a championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame in 2024 and Ohio State and Texas in 2025. Both finals had legitimate cases for being the right matchup. Neither finale included an SEC team. That fact alone is fueling the expansion talk inside the conference offices in Birmingham.
An expanded field would guarantee more access to power conferences. The SEC and Big Ten would each get multiple guaranteed bids. The ACC, Big 12 and Group of 5 would have to fight for a smaller pool of at-large spots.
That is the part nobody wants to talk about publicly. Expansion is about money. More games equals more television inventory. More television inventory equals more revenue. The SEC and Big Ten have the most to gain.
Why Expansion Could Hit a Wall
Coaches have been openly skeptical. Players are already being asked to play more games than ever. Expanding to 14 or 16 teams means an extra round of games, which means more potential for injuries and burnout heading into bowl seasons that have lost most of their importance.
The NCAA is also dealing with massive legal pressure around player compensation, transfer portal rules and conference realignment lawsuits. Adding another expansion layer to the chaos is going to face pushback from coaches who already feel like the sport is unrecognizable.
Kirby Smart spoke this week about the SEC potentially breaking away from the NCAA altogether. That is part of the same conversation. The major conferences are looking for ways to control their own product.
The Realistic Timeline
Any playoff format changes would not take effect before 2027 at the earliest. The current contracts and television deals run through specific cycles. Changes have to be negotiated, voted on and approved by every member institution.
Sankey is laying the groundwork now. He is making sure everyone in college football knows the conversation is happening. By the time a vote actually comes up, the SEC will have already convinced enough conferences to support its position.
What the Expansion Would Look Like
The most discussed model is a 14-team field with byes for the top two seeds. A 16-team format with no byes is also being discussed but is less popular. Both formats would protect the highest-ranked conference champions while expanding access for at-large teams.
The first round games would happen on campus in mid-December. The quarterfinals would move to neutral sites. The semifinals and championship would stay at major bowl venues.
The biggest disruption would be to the bowl system. More playoff games means fewer prestigious non-playoff bowls. That is a fight the bowl committees are not going to lose without making noise.
The Power Dynamic Is Clear
The SEC and Big Ten run college football now. Every major decision goes through them. Sankey saying expansion is picking up steam means it is happening. The only question is what format wins out.
Smart’s breakaway comments and Sankey’s expansion push are two sides of the same coin. The SEC wants more control, more money and more access to the postseason. They are going to get all three eventually.
College football fans should buckle up. The sport is about to change again. The 12-team playoff was supposed to be the long-term solution. It looks like it was just the beginning.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
