College football’s next playoff leap is coming, and the SEC is fully on board.
On Monday, ESPN and the College Football Playoff reached a five-year, $1.7B agreement that will expand the field from 12 teams to 24 in 2027. The change also wipes out conference championship games in Power Four leagues.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey backed the move with a statement that framed the expansion as something bigger than revenue.
“Expanding the College Football Playoff is about more than adding teams. It is about creating meaningful opportunities for student-athletes and universities, rewarding competitive excellence and challenging schedules, increasing fan access to championship competition by expanding the number of on-campus playoff games, and strengthening the importance of the entire season from opening weekend through the national championship.
“This new format advances those priorities while preserving what makes college football special and supporting the long-term future of our sport.”
The SEC’s support is no surprise. The conference has long been one of the loudest voices in favor of a bigger playoff, and the latest format would almost certainly give it more room at the table.
The CFP even laid out what a 24-team bracket would have looked like last season after the deal was announced. Seven SEC teams would have been in: Oklahoma Sooners, Ole Miss Rebels, Georgia Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies, Vanderbilt Commodores, Texas Longhorns and Alabama Crimson Tide.
Under the 12-team setup, the SEC already led the way with five teams in the bracket last season. That was the most of any conference. And with conferences earning $4M for every team that reaches the playoff, the SEC took in $20M from those appearances.
Still, not everyone is convinced the sport is headed in the right direction. MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher pushed back in his own statement, warning that bigger doesn’t automatically mean better.
“As we expand the postseason, we must be careful not to diminish the very qualities that have made college football such a compelling sport," MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said in a statement. "We must also recoginize that a larger playoff does not necessarily mean greater financial benefits for all conferences and institutions, making the long-term sustainability of the FBS an important consideration.
"The expansion of the playoff creates opportunities, but a larger playoff alone does not define progress. Ultimately, the success of this new format will be measured by whether it strengthens college football as a whole, not simply by the number of teams competing for a national championship."
That’s the tension at the heart of this move. Sankey says the new format protects the sport and broadens access. Critics see a playoff that could crowd out the regular season, erase conference championship games and tilt even more power toward the biggest leagues.
For now, though, the SEC is betting that a bigger bracket means a better future.
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