SEC chief reveals when College Football Playoff will vote on expansion

We could be on the verge of history as the College Football Playoff looks to expand further.

When the College Football Playoff will vote on expansion, according to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. / USA Today Sports | IMAGN

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has teased when a vote on expanding the College Football Playoff could come, amid speculation the format could enlarge to 14 or 16 teams, and starting as early as next season.

What the format looks like is still a subject of intense debate, but as decision makers go over the particulars, Sankey revealed that he expects a decision in the next few months.

“The outer boundary is Nov. 30, Dec. 1 of this year for the ‘26 playoff,” Sankey said in comments to The Dan Patrick Show.

“Now keep in mind, when we went to 12 teams, the board said that’ll be the format for 2026. Let’s start early if we can, which we obviously did, overall, in a successful way. But what was introduced immediately is, let’s go through these two years and conduct an evaluation.”

Sankey revealed there is a consensus to expand the postseason from 12 teams.

“We’re in that evaluation standpoint. A lot of talk about, really 14 or 16. I think 12 is known as, it’s kind of a foundation point, but the conversation is about 14 or 16, and then how our teams are selected or placed into whatever size bracket exists,” he said.

How playoff teams are selected has been a sharp dividing line among college football’s decision makers, with the SEC and Big Ten clearly off to one, more powerful, side, and everybody else on the other.

The SEC and Big Ten have supported a system in which they each receive four automatic qualifiers, with the ACC and Big 12 getting two each, one for the Group of Six champion, and three remaining at-large bids.

Naturally, the ACC and Big 12 took exception to that idea, and now it appears the SEC is starting to lean their way, too.

That’s after a report that suggested the SEC is moving away from the four auto bid proposal, and endorsing the other option on the table, a so-called “5-11” format that awards places to the five conference champions with 11 at-large bids to be chosen by the selection committee.

“I just make it the 12 best teams, and I was clear on that,” Sankey said.

“Now, when we get into rooms, we make political compromises, if you will, small p, not like Congress, political compromises, but to achieve an outcome.

“We’ve spent so much time expanding and working through our own little side arguments about teams, and, oh, we can’t do this. We need this. You got to protect this bowl game or that bowl game.”

He added: “We never went back to the essence of decision making, which is how our team selected as everyone relocated over the last four or five years, does the analysis that existed and work for the four-team playoff in 2014 still have the same relevance, and we’re behind that curve in my opinion.”

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