Greg Sankey responds to CFP expansion talk from rival conferences

In Dallas earlier this month, new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said he’s in favor of College Football Playoff expansion. In Indianapolis this week, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said he’s “100% in support” of expanding the CFP.

A week after his conference’s media days, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey weighed in.

Sankey told ESPN’s Heather Dinich he’s taking the other conference commissioners’ media days statements with a grain of salt. Instead, he wants to pay attention to what people say in private rather than in public.

“I’m really interested in what people say in meeting rooms, not at media days,” he told Dinich. “I don’t just take statements from the past couple of weeks as clear indications of direction.”

After Dinich tweeted the quote, Sankey retweeted with a comment to make clear where he stands on the issue.

“In case anyone else feels the need to call and ask,” he tweeted.

CFP expansion talks broke down earlier this offseason, meaning the four-team format is staying through at least the 2025 season — the same year the ESPN contract ends. But talks of expanding are heating up again, and Warren went in-depth about his thoughts on whether he thinks the CFP should stay at four teams.

“I’m 100% supportive of College Football Playoff expansion,” he said at Big Ten Media Days. “I’m excited that we now will have some new members in the room that will have very creative ideas. Even in the Big Ten Conference, our new presidential representative will be Dr. Kristina Johnson — the president at The Ohio State University … so to be able to get her ideas as far as what format is best, I’m looking forward to working with her.

“And, then, we have a new commissioner Brett Yormark in the Big 12 Conference, who’s replacing Bob Bowlsby. Brett is a marketing wizard–very innovative. So, I’m excited. We have meetings coming up in September and October to be able to talk about these issues.”