Greg Sankey: SEC views expansion to 16 teams as 'next right step' for College Football Playoff

As the second installment of the 12-team College Football Playoff gets underway this week, expansion remains a key point of conversation. A 16-team model is still on the table, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey reaffirmed the conference’s stance.

Sankey said the SEC fully supports a 16-team CFP bracket, which would include the five highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large teams. He argued that recognizes conference champions by giving them spots in the field while also providing the at-large opportunities.

Sankey also defended the move to a 12-team College Football Playoff, though he acknowledged the need to make the transition quicker. But when it comes to expanding the bracket even more, the SEC backs 16 as the “next right step.”

“I think that the move to 12 was really well timed,” Sankey said on The Rich Eisen Show. “There’s some clunkiness to it because the model was introduced, remember, in 2021. And that was before we expanded with Oklahoma and Texas, before the Big Ten – there’s been a domino effect. We were slow to adapt in real time because we were slow to accept the 12-team idea. And I was part of the group that introduced 12. I think 12 was right. I think it was done at the right time.

“When we’ve talked as a league, we think the move to 16 is the next right step that provides 11 at-larges, it honors conference champions. And I do expect there’s going to be a lot of stress about the low-ranked conference champions that are in this thing right now because they’ve displaced some much more highly ranked teams. That’s the point of controversy. So I do think we have to continue to adapt. Our league has said 16 is the right next step. Whether we can agree upon that or not as a group in the College Football Playoff management committee, that remains to be seen.”

Conferences originally faced a Dec. 1 deadline to decide whether to expand the CFP. However, that got pushed back, giving leagues until at least January for the leagues and ESPN to reach an agreement, On3’s Brett McMurphy previously reported.

The SEC and other conferences previously voiced their support for the 5-plus-11 model, which Greg Sankey discussed Wednesday. However, the Big Ten is a support of a 4-4-2-2-1 format. That would include four bids apiece for the SEC and Big Ten, two each for the ACC and Big 12, one for the Group of 6, plus three at-large spots to fill out the 16-team bracket.