Greg Sankey reveals why SEC opted for 9-game conference schedule

After the SEC announced it would be moving to a nine-game conference schedule, commissioner Greg Sankey detailed the decision. He appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show shortly after the move became official.

The SEC’s scheduling decision has been a key topic of discussion the last few years, and it became even more important around the College Football Playoff discussion. The SEC and Big Ten have most of control regarding the CFP’s future, and they were at odds about expansion. That’s where the conference schedule came into play.

Sankey explained why the SEC chose to add another conference game to its schedule. He told Finebaum the discussions started in August 2021 in the first meeting after the league announced it would expand to 16 teams and about getting fans to each town. While there were differing viewpoints, Sankey said the COVID year helped lay the foundation for this transition.

“It took a while,” Sankey said. “A lot of factors involved – you and I have talked about bowl eligibility, the CFP. Some of the work by the CFP so far this year is progress. It’s not a destination, but the honoring of schedule strength that’s been communicated is really important for the Southeastern Conference. Being leaders in college football, continuing to play games against non-conference opponents at a high level in addition to the nine games. I think that’s a representation of fulfilling that leadership responsibility. That’s not something that’s done every place. Not everyone agrees. I’m certain that our coaches are concerned about the competitive aspect. We’ve got to continue to improve the selection process for the postseason.

“Yet, when you factor that in along with our media relationship with ESPN. What we experienced from viewership last year, when you go back to the COVID year where we played conference-only games and had the highest viewership consumption on the SEC Network because every one of those games were great games, a lot of lessons that also set us up for future decision-making and future opportunities. Those are but some of the factors that brought us to this conclusion.”

How the CFP impacted the SEC’s schedule move

Under the nine-game conference schedule, SEC teams will have three permanent opponents each year. They will then have six rotating opponents each year under a model that will take effect in 2026. Additionally, SEC teams will still have to play at least one additional “high quality” non-conference opponent from either the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Notre Dame.

The Big Ten particularly took aim at the nine-game schedule in the College Football Playoff discussion. On3’s Brett McMurphy reported the conference would not support a 5-plus-11 format – the five highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large teams – if the SEC stayed with its eight-game slate. After Thursday’s news, a Big Ten athletics director told McMurphy the decision “certainly helps” those expansion talks.

The 5-plus-11 model gained support during the spring after a 4-4-2-2-1 CFP format gained traction. That format would see the Big Ten and SEC get four bids apiece while the Big 12 and ACC would get two each. The Group of 6 would get one spot, and three at-large teams would fill out the bracket.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti’s support for the 4-4-2-2-1 bracket stemmed from two places. One was questions about strength of schedule. The CFP addressed this week by adding a “record strength” metric. The other was the importance of the regular season, which is why he supported play-in games under that format.

“I’ve heard my colleagues around other leagues say that a lot of work has to be done to the selection committee and that’s where I have a hard time on what that actually means,” Petitti told Yahoo! Sports at Big Ten Media Days. “In talking to some of the folks in our room, our ADs that have been on that (selection) committee, I’ve yet to hear someone say they need more data or stuff to look at. You can come up and make metrics, but ultimately it’s just people evaluating what’s put in front of them.”