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SEC commissioner firm on keeping CFB Playoff at 4 teams

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

The conversation of College Football Playoff expansion rages on, but one conference commissioner isn’t budging from his stance on the four-team format.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was recently asked about expanding the playoff from four teams to eight or potentially 16, a discussion that has picked up significant traction following this past season. But for Sankey, the bracket is perfectly fine as it stands.

“No. I think four works,” Sankey said when asked about expansion, according to Seth Emerson of The Athletic. “We will be attentive to conversations. But fundamentally that’s my statement.”

Recently at the Badgers’ open spring practice, Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said he believes the field needs to expand to eight teams, saying the selection committee isn’t “following the criteria” during the process.

Alvarez cited the B1G champion being left out of the College Football Playoff each of the last three years, and the conference being omitted the past two years for his argument.

“I don’t think that we have followed the criteria set by the commissioners in naming those four teams,” Alvarez said. “There’s a way you can go to eight teams very easily, starting a week early with a bye with the top four seeds. You can go to eight teams easily.There are eight teams that really could have a chance to win. So I think it will expand, I just don’t know when.”

Obviously, Sankey hasn’t had to deal with his league being omitted. Alabama has reached the College Football Playoff all five years of existence and the SEC is the only conference to have two teams in the same year. In 2017, both the Crimson Tide and Georgia earned bids and played in the championship game.

The idea of expansion has been around since the inaugural College Football Playoff, but this season has received more attention when three teams — Oklahoma, Ohio State and Georgia — were vying for the fourth and final spot while Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame clinched a berth with undefeated records.

B1G commissioner Jim Delany, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and Nebraska AD Bill Moos have also spoke in favor of expansion.

Expanding the College Football Playoff, at least right now, seems like a longshot.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB