College football is constantly evolving, and the success of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff in 2024 has officials quickly looking for ways to capitalize.
Wednesday in New Orleans, leaders from the Big Ten and SEC met to discuss changes to the CFP format. Those included increasing the field 14 teams (set to happen in 2026) to 16 teams and potentially altering the seeding determinations for the bracket.
Both conferences have established their dominance within the CFP hierarchy, practically calling all the shots while the Big 12, ACC and Group of Five conferences follow their instructions. But the SEC could cede some ground to the Big Ten if it continues to drag its feet in a crucial area: scheduling.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is only hurting his conference by delaying inevitable schedule expansion
Per ESPN's Heather Dinich, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told reporters after the meetings Tuesday and Wednesday that expansion to nine conference games was discussed but that no decision was reached, calling it "an important part of the conversation."
The SEC is the only power conference that plays fewer than nine league games, giving the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC providing more opportunities to weed out pretenders and establish contending programs. In the South, they get to play an extra cushy non-conference game (typically in November) that pads their win columns. And because of it, they're considered the cream of the crop in college football.
Sankey needs to get the SEC to adapt to the more competitive landscape in college football, even if that risks more of his teams having two losses instead of one when entering the postseason. Eventually, the selection committee will wise up and seed SEC teams lower than Big Ten teams if the discrepancy between even squads is one tough conference loss vs. one easier non-conference win.
It seems like Sankey is heading in that direction, but the longer he waits, the more power he cedes to the Big Ten in these critical discussions about CFP format changes. College football waits for no one, not even the SEC.