BIRMINGHAM, AL – SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said the “tipping point” of games that matter in the regular season must be determined before the College Football Playoff expands to 16 or 24 teams.
Time is running short. A decision on the 2027 format must be made by Dec. 1.
And support is running thin for the SEC’s previously endorsed 16-team playoff model. Tennessee athletics director Danny White and SEC coaches like Josh Heupel are among the proponents of a 24-team bracket.
“There is a tipping point (when it comes to meaningful games) in November,” Sankey said on May 11 during the Associated Press Sports Editors regional meeting at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
“At any level of expansion, there will be games that didn’t matter in a smaller number that now matter in a bigger number. But there’s another side to that coin where the next-to-last weekend (of the regular season) – that, right now, is critically important – might not matter in the same way (in a 24-team playoff).”
It’ll be a hotly debated topic at a league meeting of athletics directors here in mid-May. And that should continue at the SEC spring meetings in Destin in late May, when the league’s presidents, chancellors, ADs and head coaches weigh in.
The College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams in the 2026 season, but there’s momentum to expand it as early as 2027.
Sankey previously said that SEC leadership prefers a 16-team playoff. But support for a 24-team playoff is growing rapidly. The Big Ten wants a 24-team playoff. The American Football Coaches Association endorsed an elimination of conference championship games, an earlier end to the season and essentially a 24-team playoff.
Sankey said no one really knows at what point an expanded playoff would water down the excitement of the regular season.
“If we’re honest, that’s an unknown,” Sankey said. “We are trying to inform that through research. There are a lot of ideas out there that have to be supported with analysis and information, not speculation."
Which playoff model is best for Tennessee football?
Heupel publicly supported a 24-team playoff. He joined Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz, Kentucky’s Will Stein and other SEC coaches as proponents of that model.
White, a longtime supporter of a 24-team playoff, made his position clear.
“I’d like to see it go to 24 (teams),” White said. “I think if you look at the percentage (of postseason teams) in football, it’s significantly less than every other sport.”
There’s a notion that coaches and schools are looking out for themselves rather than what’s good for the sport.
For example, Tennessee would’ve made the playoff twice in Heupel’s five-year tenure in 12-team and 16-team formats. But the Vols would’ve made a 24-team playoff three straight seasons under Heupel (2022-24) and been in contention a fourth time going into the final regular-season game in 2025.
Sankey knows self-interests are always at play. He’s open to conversation, but he wants arguments to be supported by data.
“I think that’s a debate that ought to happen,” Sankey said. “Those that have different opinions should inform those opinions and bring that information to the conversation. But you try not to overreact."
Why Greg Sankey was irritated by plan from coaches
During a one-hour Q&A session with reporters at the APSE conference, Sankey responded with his usual mix of legalese and dry wit. But he showed slight irritation when reacting to recent recommendations by the AFCA, college football’s largest organization for coaches.
The AFCA wants to squeeze the season calendar by reducing bye weeks from two to one, eliminating conference championship games and diving right into an expanded playoff that would end by the second Monday in January.
Sankey saw those proposals as impractical.
“Where do you fit all the games in?” Sankey said. “And the American Football Conference Association – without picking up the phone and having a conversation with those of us in the decision-making role – issues a set of statements and says, ‘We want to get to the season done earlier.’
“There’s a point at which, when you evaluate that press release, they have a number of mutually exclusive options that have to be considered.”
Sankey must uphold the SEC Championship game contract, at least until an expanded playoff eliminates its usefulness. But he must also consider how to recoup the revenue lost if that lucrative game goes away.
If the regular season began in Week Zero and there was only one bye week, the postseason could be earlier. But Sankey said the SEC doesn’t want to squeeze the regular season too tightly.
“Two open weeks is the priority, and not an earlier rush into the postseason,” Sankey said. “Two open weeks for injury purposes, for recovery purposes, for development purposes (for players).”
Here’s what a 24-team playoff would look like
Multiple formats have been floated for a potential 24-team team playoff.
The leading proposal includes 23 at-large teams determined by the selection committee and one automatic bid from the Group of Six conferences.
The top eight seeds would get a first-round bye. The other 16 teams would play in the first round with the higher-seeded team serving as host. The top eight seeds would host second-round games, again at campus sites.
Like the current 12-team format, quarterfinals and semifinals would rotate between six bowl sites: Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, Sugar.
The national title game would be played in a major city. It’s already scheduled for Las Vegas in 2027, New Orleans in 2028, Tampa in 2029 and Miami in 2030.
Conference championships would no longer exist. Playoff games would start in early or mid-December with quarterfinals around New Year’s, semifinals in early January and the championship in mid-January.
Here’s what a 16-team playoff would look like
There are also multiple 16-team playoff formats. But the leading proposal would simply add four at-large teams to the current 12-team bracket.
It’s called the 5+11 model, including the top five conference champions and 11 at-large teams determined by the selection committee.
There would be no byes. Higher-seeded teams would host first-round games. Like the current 12-team format, quarterfinals and semifinals would rotate between six bowl sites: Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, Sugar.
The national title game would be played in the aforementioned major cities. Conference championships could exist alongside a 16-team playoff or be eliminated. That would dictate the playoff schedule.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Greg Sankey on CFP expansion as 24-team playoff gains momentum in SEC
