SEC Commissioner Says There’s ‘More Traction’ On 16-Team Playoff Than He Anticipated

The commissioner of the Southeastern Conference is hearing an increased interest from his league’s leaders about a previously little-discussed idea of expanding the College Football Playoff from 12 to 16 teams.

A move to 14 teams had been viewed as the next expansion, but Greg Sankey said, “16 has become more central in the conversation. We’re interested, not committed, but the interest level has gone higher.”

“Sixteen has had more traction in my league than I would have anticipated,” Sankey said at the kickoff of the league’s annual meetings.

Last week, all 10 conferences and Notre Dame provided the unanimous agreement needed to move to a straight seeding model for next year’s playoff, which will remain a 12-team affair.

It’s a move that Sankey started pushing for shortly after last season’s bracket elevated Arizona State and Boise State into the top four, where they received first-round byes. Both programs were ranked ninth or lower by the playoff selection committee.

The future of the college playoffs will be among the topics discussed among school presidents, athletic directors and coaches in what might be the most consequential of the many conference meetings that will take place this spring.

The commissioner said he neither committed to the 16-team idea nor to the oft-floated idea of providing up to four automatic bids to both the SEC and Big Ten in whatever format comes next.

A shift to more automatic bids for the SEC might lead the league to get rid of its conference title game in favor of some slate of “play-in” games for those automatic spots.

All schools desperately need to increase revenue to cover the $20.5 million in direct name, image, likeness payments, along with added expenses for financial aid, so the potential for automatic bids could be something that can make money.

“We’ll look a little bit more deeply at different ideas, which will put me at some point in a better position to answer those questions,” Sankey said.