Greg Sankey reacts to multiple conference commissioners statements on playoff expansion

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is hopeful that, despite disagreements, talks on College Football Playoff expansion will push forward in the coming weeks and months. On the Paul Finebaum Show, Sankey expressed empathy with his cohort of commissioners who’ve spoken out against expansion.

“Everyone’s trying to communicate their point of view,” Sankey said. “If someone walked into a CFP discussion midstream that’s difficult. Whether it’s Kevin Warren who’s now been in his role with the Big Ten for two years or Jim in the ACC who started at this time last year, they walked into a conversation that had been taking place for two years.

“The reality from the Southeastern Conference is that we have continuing dialogue with our coaches. We don’t always agree but hey, that’s reality and we better get comfortable with some of that disagreement. I never assumed it would just be rubber-stamped. I think my disappointment is that we’re not talking through the depth of issues that have been identified so how do we arrive at solutions. How do we remedy the concern? If we can’t find the way forward now, we’re going to have a difficult time in the future. We’ll have conferences over the coming weeks and months, I’m not sure that will change the perspective of those opposed. We can’t even keep secret meeting dates. We needed to do it in a coordinated way.”

Expansion talks stall

The idea of an expanded Playoff was first discussed in 2019 at the annual meeting between the board and conference commissioners. Two years later, after working through various models, a 12-team Playoff that awards bids to the six highest-ranked conference champions, as well as the next six highest-ranked teams, went public.

It seemed like a watershed for the sport, with many expecting the committee’s approval soon after. But it never got a vote.

The talk of Playoff expansion was instead moved to the backburner after the equally-groundbreaking change allowing college athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness (NIL). The announcement that Oklahoma and Texas would leave the Big 12 for the SEC only added fuel to the fire. With so much change already happening, leaders started to question whether they wanted to pile on.

American Conference commissioner speaks up

American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco penned an open letter this week to the CFP, urging for CFP expansion.

Cincinnati, who plays in the AAC, became the first Group of 5 team to ever make the CFP this season. Even with the Bearcats pulling up their seat at the table this season, the CFP still overlooks some worthy teams. Aresco and the AAC back the 12-team playoff model that includes six conference champions and six at-large teams. He says a “firm majority” of the commissioners back that model as well.

“As NCAA Division I athletics embarks on transformational changes in the coming weeks and months, and as the College Football Playoff (“CFP”) leadership looks to the future, we have a unique opportunity to reshape college football with a modern postseason format that will profoundly enhance the national stature of the sport,” Aresco said.

“Recognizing that the current four-team playoff excludes worthy teams, the CFP Working Group (SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson, and Notre Dame Athletic Director, Jack Swarbrick) submitted a proposal for a 12-team playoff in June 2021 that is an enormous step in the right direction and remedies the shortcomings that have historically and recently affected FBS postseason football.”

On3’s Jonathan Wagner contributed to this report.