Big Ten, SEC still deadlocked on CFP expansion

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — With a Friday deadline looming, the Big Ten and SEC remain deadlocked about the future format of the College Football Playoff following Sunday’s annual business meeting of CFP leaders.

“Still more work to do,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said as he exited past more than a dozen reporters waiting outside the meeting room of the Lowe’s hotel in South Beach.

The Big Ten and SEC have the bulk of control over the format in 2026 and beyond because of a memorandum of understanding that was signed by the 10 FBS commissioners, including former American Conference commissioner Mike Aresco, and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua. If Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey can’t agree on a format by Friday — an extended deadline imposed by ESPN, the sole TV rights holder — the playoff will stay at 12 teams for at least another year.

There is overwhelming support in the room for a 16-team playoff to begin as soon as 2026, sources said, but the Big Ten won’t agree to it unless the SEC agrees to a 24-team format three years later. Sankey and Mississippi State president Mark Keenum, the chair of the CFP’s board of managers, have stated publicly that the SEC would prefer a 16-team model. Sources have said Sankey doesn’t want to commit to a 24-team field now, and Sankey wasn’t immediately available for comment following the meeting.

“This was not a deadline day of any kind,” Keenum said after the meeting. “So they’re still talking. We anticipate discussions will continue, and they will make a decision to stay at 12 or go to some other number.”

A 24-team field would require the conferences to eliminate their championship games, and that’s something that has been highly valuable for the SEC. Some in the room also have concerns about how a 24-team field would impact the regular season, sources said. When asked for the SEC’s position on a 24-team field, Keenum said he didn’t want to “get in front of my commissioner as he’s having these conversations on this matter as to what number it will be.”

Mid-American commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said he expects “a lot of conversation” to continue between the Big Ten and SEC this week, but no official meeting is planned as of now for the entire group.

“There’s two conferences that very much will drive where this ship goes,” he said. “Stay tuned.”

One source said a 16-team field is still possible next season but not likely. American commissioner Tim Pernetti said it’s up to Sankey and Petitti to figure it out.

“That’s up to two people in the room to come back with something that we’d all sit down and discuss,” Pernetti said, “but right now, the discussion is ongoing.”