How ‘ya doing there, Alliance? The SEC Commissioner says hi.
… The playoff will remain at four teams through the 2025 season, when the current contract expires, but after that, “There’s nothing that exists after Year 12,” Sankey said at the Associated Press Sports Editors Southeast regional meeting. “There’s not the bowl relationships; there’s not a media relationship; there’s not a College Football Playoff format come the 2026 season.”
So from Sankey’s perspective?
“We can stay at four,” he said. “This conference will thrive at four. Period. That’s not healthy for the rest of FBS college football, but we can stay at four.”
You sure about that, Greg? I mean, how can you expect to stand pat with a mere four-team CFP field?
Two SEC teams faced off in last season’s CFP National Championship, with Georgia beating Alabama, 33-18. Twelve of the last 16 national champs are SEC teams, and in the eight-year history of the College Football Playoff, the SEC is the only conference with a qualifying team every season. The last three national champions are Georgia, Alabama and LSU.
“People apparently didn’t take me seriously when I said we can leave it at four,” Sankey said. “So I sat there watching that (Alabama-Georgia) game, thinking they just thought I wasn’t serious.”
Sounds like we’re headed towards a fun poker game before 2026.
Get The Picture 
He ain’t wrong
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No, he isn’t. Too bad Sankey didn’t also point out that in two of the last five CFP championship games, the SEC has had both teams. In my lifetime, I’ve only dreamed of having a poker hand with cards similar to what Sankey is holding ahead of the next round of negotiations.
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Hopefully, he can continue to fail and keep it at 4.
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True story:
I had dinner at St. Elmo in Indy Saturday night before the NCG. Sankey was at the table next to me. I said, “Hey Commissioner, where’s the Big 10 Commissioner?” Glass of wine in hand, he says, “I don’t know, probably tucked into a warm bed somewhere.”
He’s an assassin.
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Like a BOSS
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Daaaaayum! Stone cold killa…
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I think the thing people are missing here is that you were actually able to get into St. Elmo Saturday night. Congrats to you.
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We were actually trying to get into the cocktail bar upstairs, but it was at capacity. Someone came out and said, “But if you like, a table just opened in the main dining room if you want it.”
Should’ve known right then that the Dawgs were gonna roll.
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Cool story.
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Man’s playing 3D chess – these clowns are struggling playing checkers
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More like tic tac toe and they keep losing.
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Never measure dicks with Greg Sankey.
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Bullsh** walks
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He pretty much said this at the national championship celebration. The SEC doesn’t need expansion. The Pac 12 and the Big 12 should be absolutely calling for it.
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More like begging for it! and yet that idiot in the PAC-12 who just took over acts like he’s the new mouthpiece for the P5…
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Ok, so let me preface by saying I am good with 4 teams and don’t favor expansion, but I decided to come up with a way to make this all work out.
13 team playoff
One side of the bracket is the SEC Champ which automatically gets into the championship game
The other side of the bracket has semifinal (1), quarterfinals (2), pre-quarters (4), play-ins (4).
Automatic quarterfinalist (as long as you are ranked in the top 10, if a G5 team is top 4, then the lowest of those below falls to Play-in round):
Big 10 Champ
ACC Champ
Pac 12 Champ
Big XII Champ
5 Play-in spots reserved for top G5 teams per conference + 1 SEC team (runner-up or highest ranked non-champ)
2 Highest ranked teams not qualified from above.
Potentially 4 SEC teams qualify, but 1 always plays for the title, so it’s pretty much biz as usual.
G5 whiners get their chance to play a game and then play a P5 champ.
No guarantees for Independents, but gives ND a better chance to actually win a playoff game.
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The SEC Champion is guaranteed entry into the playoff so long as the conference continues its commitment to football excellence (it will) and so long as its member institutions remain geographically in the southeast near the best football recruits in the land (obviously, they will). Twice already, the SEC has placed two teams in the playoff and seen those teams play for the title thus validating the at-large bid (that the at-large team won the national title both times only further backed it up).
If the ACC, Big Ten, Pac 12, and Big 12 are happy to battle it out with Notre Dame and the G5 teams for 3 and possibly only 2 spots in the playoff, so be it. It isn’t going to hurt our feelings, it’s only going to damage them. If they hate money and having a chance at championships, then cool.
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Let all the other conferences have an eleventy team playoff with the “winner” taking on the SEC champion.
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The SEC was so dominant in those last years of the BCS, winning 7 in a row, including an SEC vs SEC title game that pretty much broke the bcs. They haven’t been quite as dominant in the playoff era, winning only 5 of the 8, but they’ve taken 9 of the 16 title game spots. If they go to 8 or 12 or whatever it probably will mean a few different teams win it, but it may just be A&M or Tennessee or Florida getting hot in the playoff. Just as likely as Penn State or FSU or someone. There’ll be years where 5 of the 12 are SEC. Wait until it’s an all SEC semi final.
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Well if you look at it like the regular season in the SEC is the playoffs and Sankey is just kind enough to let a few non SEC schools in the final four to just check and see if there are any other teams in the country that might hang for a while.
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It’s like watching four Chihuahuas desperately trying to climb up a Great Dane’s legs, all the while assuring her that they’ll be gentle.
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There’s a whiff of hubris in Stanley’s comments, but I ain’t got a problem with it.
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I worry about them one day eliminating a one loss SEC team just out of spite.
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