They gather at the most important meetings on this land since the first Continental Congress, the only thing standing between this nation and total oblivion. Or so that's how this week's SEC spring meetings, which officially begin Tuesday in Sandestin, Fla., have been sold.
Not so much, Greg Sankey said Monday evening.
It was easy to see why the hype cloud billowed upward the way it has. The Big Ten spent its spring meetings stumping for a 24-team College Football Playoff or bust. The Big 12 and ACC agree. As does the AFCA. Roughly 90 percent of the public is against it. And so that leaves only the SEC standing between college football and total annihilat.. excuse me, a 24-team playoff. By virtue of the latest CFP contract, the Big Ten and the SEC have to agree on a format change in order for the format to, well, change.
According to reports on the ground, any beliefs that there will be some sort of formal declaration one way or the other are premature.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey: "I do not anticipate any decisions on the College Football Playoff. Just to make that clear, so we can tamp that down." Says the SEC spring meetings have been "over-hyped." pic.twitter.com/9fSIlStAec
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 25, 2026
However, left to his own devices, Sankey appeared in no hurry to make any changes.
Is the SEC the last holdout on Playoff expansion?
— David Ubben (@davidubben) May 25, 2026
Greg Sankey: "It doesn’t bother me. People tell me that. Positions seem to change a lot."
Greg Sankey, asked if there are 24 teams capable of winning the title in any year and if watering down the CFP field is a concern: "It is for me."
— David Ubben (@davidubben) May 25, 2026
Greg Sankey: "I've never thought football was a tournament sport."
— David Ubben (@davidubben) May 25, 2026
Of course, Sankey ultimately works for the 16 SEC presidents, and those presidents represent their campuses, with their respective ADs and head coaches presumably getting heavy sway in how he or she ultimately votes. Last week, CBS Sports's Brandon Marcello held an informal, off-the-record poll of ADs and head coaches found no clear consensus, often with disagreement within the same school. At Georgia, president Jere Morehead called a 24-team bracket "a mistake," while Kirby Smart has stumped for a 24-team bracket. (Distressingly for those of us in the 12-team camp, almost no one with a say in the matter prefers 12 for 12's sake.)
Even if all parties involved prefer 24, a major question has not even been answered yet: No one even knows if the money is there for 24. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips admitted that ESPN has strongly advised against going to 16 or above. ESPN owns all of the current CFP, plus all of the SEC rights, and as a result 138 of the 200 most-watched games over the last two seasons aired on ABC or ESPN. Sankey has said that the conference will present more information than ever to its members on possible CFP formats, and some of that information will assuredly be the network's preferences, as well as the potential cost-benefit of throwing good money after bad.
That's not to say the SEC will come out against expansion this week. Truly, no one knows where the conference will stand after this week. Which means -- dang it -- I'm getting hyped for these meetings again.