COLUMBIA, Mo. — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey did not have an update on College Football Playoff expansion Saturday despite the league’s recent announcement that it will expand its conference schedule from eight to nine games starting in 2026.
The move to nine conference games has been one sticking point between the SEC and Big Ten in regard to potentially expanding the CFP field, along with how many automatic bids will be involved.
“We have a 12-team format. We’ll have a 12-team format this year,” said Sankey, speaking before Missouri’s Week 2 game against Kansas. “If we don’t change the 12-team format, guess what, we’ll have a 12-team format at the end of next year.”
The SEC commissioner was in attendance for the revival of the Border War rivalry between Missouri and Kansas, being played for the first time in football since 2011, prior to Missouri leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.
Sankey said the CFP’s recent revisions to its selection process, including new metrics for strength of record and strength of schedule, influenced the league’s long-debated move to a nine-game SEC schedule.
“What impacted our conversation was at least a step — what I would call progress, not perfection — on strength of record, strength of schedule analysis,” said Sankey. “Understanding how those guide selection is the next step for us.”
Sankey did say that if the CFP does expand, the conference prefers 16 teams, which seemed to acknowledge reports of the Big Ten considering 24- or 28-team formats.
“The consideration of growth for us is 16. It appears a justifiable and reasonable step,” said Sankey. “You’ve heard plenty of other ideas. It’s not clear that those ideas generate the support to move.”
He noted that if an expansion format isn’t agreed to prior to Dec. 1, the Playoff will likely remain at 12 teams for 2026, but added there will be additional opportunities to address expansion in the future.
Regarding the future nine-game league schedule, Sankey also addressed the three annual opponents each team will face, emphasizing that not all of them will be permanent but rather annual matchups as part of a four-year scheduling matrix, which will be reevaluated after those four seasons. That timeline allows all 16 SEC members to play at least one home-and-away series against each league opponent over the course of four years.
“Some of these (three) annual opponents will remain and are not up for debate. But others based on geography, fit and competitive balance will be subject to that review,” said Sankey, who added that the league plans to announce the four-year schedule all at once “sooner rather than later.”
Sankey, who planned to travel from Missouri to Norman, Okla., to take in the Michigan versus Oklahoma game on Saturday night, praised the return of the Border War game and the SEC’s commitment to high-profile nonconference matchups and rivalries.
“We’ve kept that expectation of a strong nonconference opponent,” said Sankey. “That’s relatively unique among our colleagues, and that’s an indication of how important a game like this is.”
Saturday’s meeting between the Jayhawks and Tigers is the first of four scheduled between the two teams, with a return to Kansas in 2026 and another home-and-home slated for 2031 and 2032. All four games will be played on campus.
“The ability to have nonconference games with great meaning is important to us as a league. Now whether those things can be worked out, sometimes it takes a while,” Sankey added. “The fact that (this game) is happening and the passion you see is an indication that it should be a thought. … When we’ve had these opportunities, we’ve found a way to fit it into our schedules.”
Sankey also stressed why buy games against “smaller” schools remain valuable to college football, a subtle knock against certain “super league” proposals that advocate for maximizing television viewership with more top-tier nonconference games.
“College football is a developmental game still,” said Sankey. “All of these outside ideas that say they want to control your schedule and we’re going to maximize matchups every day, that’s great with a nine-year veteran in the NFL. … But as you have freshmen coming in, first-year players and transfers at the college level, having a balance between strong nonconference games and some opportunities to grow your team, that remains.”
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
