MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey walked into a room of reporters nearly two years ago to face a deluge of questions about his discussions with coaches and athletic directors about conference scheduling.
It had been a long, arduous few days locked in windowless rooms adjacent to the beautiful emerald coast. The commissioner was ready for a resolution.
“I would prefer to not continue to circle the airport with the airplane. I’d prefer to land it,” he said in May 2023.
Two years later, the conference still doesn’t have an answer. It might not until the fall.
The SEC’s years-long contemplation on whether to move from eight to nine league games is still at an impasse here on the white sandy beaches after yet another round of spring meetings. The league’s decision is heavily dependent on the future format of the College Football Playoff, and a uneasy reality is now settling over the league: administrators might have to make a decision on scheduling before the CFP’s executives decide which one of two popular and wildly-different 16-team formats they adopt for the 2026 season.
“The pressure point for us is we’re going to have to make a decision about our ’26 schedule in a time frame that is shorter than what would be the very specific deadline for making CFP decisions,” Sankey said Wednesday. “I’d like to see CFP decisions made in a time efficient manner. Not a great history of that, by the way. But I’m not sure that we can work through our obligations in as time efficient as I’d like.”
Who wants what from a 16-team playoff?
Stakeholder GroupPreferred ModelBig Ten (ADs)4-4-2-2-1SEC (ADs)4-4-2-2-1SEC (Coaches)5+11 (Leaning towards it)Big 12 (ADs)5+11ACC (ADs)5+11
The CFP’s deadline to make a decision is…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/lacking-cfp-clarity-sec-faces-blind-decision-on-8-or-9-game-schedule-with-soft-deadline-looming/
Author : Brandon Marcello
Publish date : 2025-05-29 01:27:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
