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Greg Sankey has made headlines in the last few days after making big claims at the SEC meetings in Destin, Florida. Sankey made headlines after a fiery rebuttal against the ACC and Big 12, claiming they were coordinating with press releases about what they prefer the format for the new expanded College Football Playoff to be when it eventually gets to 16 teams.
Sankey said that despite his remarks, he didn't hear from any other commissioners when asked if there was any fallout from what he said. He told reporters, “No. They're probably as entertained as anyone else. We all have thick skins.”
The supposed “feud” stems from an impasse regarding the College Football Playoff expansion and how that should work between all conferences. The Big Ten and SEC want to guarantee that they have four automatic qualifiers each, while the ACC and Big 12 would get two, and the Group of Five would get a guarantee of one, leaving room for three at-large teams from any conference.
The ACC and Big 12 want no guarantees from the conferences other than the conference champions, the five highest-ranked in the Power Four, and the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. Then, the following 11 teams would all be at-large, regardless of conference.
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The SEC and Big Ten want guarantees, but there is an argument that either conference would benefit more with the format of the ACC and Big 12 because they would not be hamstrung, and there is a chance up to six or seven teams from each conference could make it into the postseason. The format the SEC and Big Ten want is also the least popular and has been ripped to shreds in the media.
The “feud” is not a feud at all because the SEC and Big Ten are the two power conferences running everything, and whatever direction they want to head in is where the sport will eventually move. However, the issue comes down to potential vs. guarantees, and in the long run, the guarantees are worth more to those two conferences than the potential they might get in another format with 11 at-large teams.
The updates to the College Football Playoff are inevitable due to the large amount of money involved. The new format will be based mainly on whether Sankey and the SEC get their way.
