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Greg Sankey Sets Price Point for Expanded Playoff
For the past several months it’s been a game of chicken when it comes to the expansion of the College Football Playoff.
On one side it’s the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the ACC in favor of a 24-team playoff. On the other side is the SEC, which is firm on 16 teams, or even 12, if the sides cannot agree.
It’s a turnabout from a year ago, when the Big 12, the ACC and the SEC were aligned on the 16-team playoff and the Big Ten was on the side of the 24-team playoff it proposed. The issue? Equal access.
The Big Ten wanted a playoff where its conference, along with the SEC, would get more automatic bids than the ACC and the Big 12. That didn’t sit well with Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark or ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, which is why they aligned with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. He was getting feedback from his coaches that they were fine with a 16-team playoff with equal access. For several months, everyone held the line.
Earlier this year, the Big Ten adjusted its proposal. No more automatic bids for anyone. The so-called 23+1 model gets the Top 23 teams in the final CFP rankings in the playoff, along with the top-ranked Group of 6 school. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti removed the biggest objection for Yormark and Phillips and they bit. After each conference’s annual meetings in May, it was still three against one — but now Sankey was fighting the other three leagues, clinging to the 16-team model.
Sankey is used to directing traffic. That must not have sat well with him. So, earlier this week Sankey shook things up. Whether it’s strategy or finally giving in, he opened the door to get this thing done.
Ross Dellenger at Yahoo Sports reported earlier this week that Sankey sent a memo to the CFP management committee recently outlining what it would take for the SEC to consider the 24-team model. The biggest ask? That each school be required to play what he called 10 “qualifying events,” or games against power conference schools. That means playing 10 games against power conference schools.
The ACC, the Big 12 and the SEC all require it. The SEC just went to nine conference games and the ACC will be all the way there next year (an odd number of teams made it hard to accomplish this year). The Big Ten is the only one that doesn’t require it. Most of them do, but not all. For instance, Indiana doesn’t play a power conference team in non-conference.
Sankey set his price point. Petitti was all-in when he spoke to On3 about it earlier this week.
Is that what Sankey was expecting? For the better part of the year Petitti has steadfastly said he’s not going to require his teams to schedule a power conference team. But if that’s the big ask, why wouldn’t he agree? Petitti has been trumpeting the 24-team playoff for more than a year and he needs the SEC to get it done.
A couple of years ago all parties in the CFP signed an agreement that said the Big Ten and the SEC had to agree on the playoff format. Yormark can talk about collaboration all he wants. But those two conferences must agree for any expansion to be implemented. If Petitti and Sankey are aligned on that, then it is far more likely to happen than it was just a week ago.
Looking at this through the Big 12 lens, an expanded playoff helps the conference. That’s why the football coaches all agreed to endorse the model during the annual meetings in May, which prompted Yormark to sign on. Petitti already removed Yormark’s chief objection. The coaches signed on because they saw last year’s final CFP Top 25 and realized that if a 24-team playoff was already in place five Big 12 teams would have made the field last season.
Yormark knows the league has a perception problem when it comes to the playoff. The league only has one win (TCU) and has never had more than one team in the playoff in any field since it was implemented. To change that perception the Big 12 needs more opportunities to play more playoff games. The more you win, the more you’re respected.
The SEC, the Big Ten and the ACC have all won national championships in the playoff format. The Big 12 is the only one that hasn’t. To earn more respect, that must change.
I don’t think an expanded playoff would hurt the regular season. There are more than 130 teams in FBS and only 24 teams would make the field. That’s a percentage on par with the NFL and Major League Baseball. Heck, 50% of the NBA and NHL teams make the playoffs and that’s way too many.
Dellenger also reported that the CFP is close to triggering the exclusive 30-day negotiating window with ESPN for the TV package for an expanded playoff. They wouldn’t be considering that if the CFP didn’t think it was close to making this a reality. ESPN won’t bite on taking on the full playoff and the CFP needs Fox and others at the table to drive up the price. Sankey reportedly believes the SEC will lose $100 million if the conference title game goes away. He needs that money back. So does the Big 12.
So that’s where we are. Sankey finally blinked — or saw the value for his league. Maybe he’s got a play up his sleeve that’ll throw the whole thing off. But for now, the biggest hurdle to a 24-team playoff in 2027 is considerably smaller. And in the long run that’s good news for the Big 12.
