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CFP expansion talks will test Greg Sankey's power, as SEC fades on field

Blake Toppmeyer, USA TODAYJanuary 15, 2026 at 10:06 AM

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The SEC no longer rules college football’s postseason. This next week will be a litmus test of whether the conference still rules the boardroom to determine the postseason format.

Whatever you might say about the SEC’s performance in the College Football Playoff the past few seasons — and, there are plenty of wisecracks to make — Greg Sankey still garners widespread respect and wields power within the commissioner ranks, while his Big Ten counterpart Tony Petitti occupies the lane of fly in the ointment.

These two commissioners of rival super-conferences each have one hand on the wheel of playoff expansion. They remain divided on the destination.

If the Big Ten and SEC cannot agree on an expanded playoff format by a Jan. 23 deadline, the current 12-team format is set to continue for the 2026 season.

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Sankey wants 16 teams. He’s used his bully pulpit to campaign for that landing place.

This will test Sankey’s influence. His playoff preference aligns with that of the ACC and Big 12, for whatever that’s worth, but he cannot expand the playoff to 16 without the Big Ten’s support.

“The move to 16 should be a priority for all of us in conference leadership,” Sankey said in mid-November.

The Big Ten, best we can tell, doesn’t care for 16. Or, at least, it opposes the 5+11 format supported by the SEC, ACC and Big 12.

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A 5+11 format would expand the 12-team playoff by adding four at-large bids. The past two seasons, the Big Ten would not have qualified any additional teams, if a 5+11 format had been in place.

Petitti makes fewer public remarks than his Power Four peers, making it more difficult to gauge the Big Ten’s truest and latest desires. The Big Ten’s playoff preferences have shifted so frequently you start to wonder whether Petitti is all that serious about expanding the bracket beyond its current size and shape, or whether he’s just presenting untenable ideas to prolong the current format.

The Big Ten’s current preference? It wants 24 teams, according to multiple reports.

In other words, he wants a pathway for 8-4 Iowa to make the playoff.

Greg Sankey usually gets what he wants

Sankey is accustomed to getting what he wants in playoff talks. The SEC dominated the four-team playoff for a decade, and Sankey staunchly opposed an eight-team playoff proposal loaded up with automatic bids.

Sankey wanted either an eight-team bracket with no auto bids or to grow the field to 12, with the latter creating several more at-large bids for the SEC to chase than an eight-team format that included auto bids would have had.

The playoff went to 12. Sankey served as one of the architects of this format.

After the Big Ten raided the Pac-12 and turned that conference into a husk, Sankey swiftly took a spot at the vanguard of altering the 12-team bracket from its initially approved 6+6 format to 5+7, creating another at-large bid. He got his wish.

He took one look at the 12-team playoff, and, after Boise State and Arizona State received first-round byes last year, Sankey called for structural change, so that the top four teams got byes, regardless of whether they were conference champs.

Once again, he lobbied successfully, although that change did not substantially benefit the SEC this season.

At every turn up, Sankey has achieved his goals. His maneuverings included some upsides for conference peers, too.

The 12-team playoff ensured Group of Five representation. The Big Ten is thriving in this structure. The ACC and Big 12 continue to earn representation, which wouldn’t always have been the case if the playoff had stayed at four teams.

Sankey, since the summer, has tried to advance the ball on a 5+11 model. It's debatable whether playoff expansion would help the SEC end its national championship drought, but, the past two seasons, four extra at-large bids would’ve meant three additional SEC qualifiers last season, and two extra from the SEC this year.

So, you can see why he’d like 16. Four more at-large spots would grease the wheels for the SEC teams that finish 9-3, a record that could become more common next season after the conference adds a ninth conference game.

Sankey has had a yearslong preference of nine conference games. His conference membership resisted for a while, but Sankey eventually achieved the outcome he desired.

Sankey, in his capacity as SEC commissioner, has earned a reputation as “the person that can get things done,” Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione told me before this season.

That quote wasn’t specific to playoff negotiations, but the shoe fits. Generally, Sankey gets his way, but these latest CFP talks are proving to be one of his toughest negotiations.

Twelve works for the Big Ten. If the SEC won’t bite on 24, there’s no obvious reason for Petitti to suddenly embrace a 5+11 model he’s steadfastly resisted.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: CFP bracket expansion talks will test SEC, Greg Sankey's power

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