The Big Ten has ideas about what the future of college athletics should look like. It has allies. It has rivals. But can they all come together to form a coherent solution for the future format of the College Football Playoff?
An eight-month partnership with the SEC is suddenly strained after the conference broke ranks earlier this month in the ongoing debate about the CFP’s format for 2026 and beyond. SEC athletic directors chose to reexamine the format after spending four months aligned with the Big Ten’s unwritten but widely discussed proposal: a 16-team playoff with four automatic qualifiers for the two largest conferences.
“Disappointed,” a Big Ten athletics director told CBS Sports. “But not shocked.”
The shift came after SEC coaches voiced support at their spring meetings for a 5+11 format — with 11 at-large spots — a model also favored by the other power conferences: the ACC and Big 12. Last week, CFP executives reset the discussion, effectively weakening the Big Ten’s influence over the sport’s postseason future.
Meanwhile, the SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has remained mostly neutral, encouraging dialogue among coaches and athletic directors to help shape an official stance. Still, he has a preference: keep a 12-team field and eliminate automatic qualifiers, which currently grant bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions.
“I’d give no allocations,” Sankey reiterated in an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on June 2. “This whole 5-7 things that exists now, I’d just make it the 12 best teams. I was clear on that. Now, when we get into rooms, we make political compromises … to achieve an outcome.”
Whether this is now the Big Ten vs. the world or simply a hiccup en route to a resolution remains to be seen….
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/why-the-big-ten-sec-alliance-turned-sour-and-what-it-means-for-future-college-football-playoff-format/
Author : Brandon Marcello
Publish date : 2025-06-27 13:23:00
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