It’s a new era for college football, and while the 12-team College Football Playoff has added more excitement-and more opportunity-it’s clear the conversation around the format is far from over. For some programs, especially those like James Madison and Tulane, this expanded playoff is a dream realized.
Two years ago, they wouldn’t have even been in the conversation. Now, they’re in the postseason spotlight.
But for others-teams left just outside the cut line-the celebration feels a little more hollow.
Enter Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner and one of the sport’s most influential voices. He’s not just watching the playoff evolve-he’s actively pushing for what he sees as its next logical step: a 16-team bracket.
Speaking recently on The Rich Eisen Show, Sankey didn’t mince words. He called the current 12-team setup “clunky,” pointing out that the format was finalized back in 2021-before the seismic shifts of conference realignment truly took hold.
Since then, the college football map has been redrawn. Oklahoma and Texas are now part of the SEC.
The Big 12 has reloaded with BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF, and later added Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. The Pac-12?
All but dissolved as a power conference.
Sankey sees the current playoff model as a product of a different era-one that didn’t account for the sport’s rapid transformation. “We were slow to adapt in real time because we were slow to accept the 12-team idea,” he said.
“And I was part of the group that introduced 12. I think 12 was right.
I think it was done at the right time.” But now, in his view, the right time has come for something bigger.
The SEC, according to Sankey, is aligned on the idea that 16 is the “next right step.” Why?
Because it would allow for 11 at-large bids while still preserving automatic spots for conference champions. That’s a key distinction.
Under the current format, some lower-ranked conference champions are punching playoff tickets while higher-ranked teams-often from deeper leagues-are left watching from home. And that’s not sitting well with everyone.
“I do expect there’s going to be a lot of stress about the low-ranked conference champions that are in this thing right now because they’ve displaced some much more highly ranked teams,” Sankey said. “That’s the point of controversy.”
He’s not wrong. The debate over merit versus automatic qualification is heating up.
And with the sport’s power structure shifting, the pressure to adapt is growing. Sankey made it clear: the SEC is ready for 16.
Whether the rest of the College Football Playoff management committee sees it the same way? That’s still up in the air.
“I do think we have to continue to adapt,” Sankey said. “Our league has said 16 is the right next step. Whether we can agree upon that or not as a group in the College Football Playoff management committee, that remains to be seen.”
This year’s 12-team field features five SEC teams: Georgia, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M. No SEC squad was left out with a strong enough case to be considered snubbed. But nationally, programs like Notre Dame and BYU didn’t make the cut-adding more fuel to the ongoing conversation about how playoff spots are earned.
So here we are: the first 12-team playoff is upon us, and it’s already sparked a new round of questions. The format gave us more inclusion, more chaos, and more debate.
But if Sankey and the SEC have their way, this won’t be the final form. The push for 16 is real-and it’s gaining momentum.