“I would hope there is interest": SEC commish Greg Sankey triggers potential CFP expansion plans with latest comment

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey believes there should be an expansion in the College Football Playoff. It expanded from four to 12 teams this season.

The expansion has been well-received but there have been issues with the seedings and automatic bye. However, speaking to The Athletic, Sankey says he wants to see the playoff expand even more.

"I’ve not had a lot of conversations yet about people’s interest in adapting. I would hope there is interest,” Sankey told The Athletic. “But then in ’26 we’ve got another opportunity.”

Sankey believes the landscape of college football has changed with the SEC and Big Ten being superconferences. He said the playoff format should adapt and expand.

“Remember when the format was introduced we had what was called the Power 5 and the Group of 5,” Sankey said. “There is not a Power 5. We had looked at history, you never meant pulling seeds from outside the (top) 10 really into the top four in this format.

"And that’s now happened. Those are learning experiences, and that informs adaptation. And we’ve got a responsibility to have what I would consider is a competitive and fair format.”

Sankey said the first year of the playoff has been beneficial. He believes some things have worked and other things that need to be improved on.

Greg Sankey thinks quarterfinals should be on campus

The first round of the college football playoff was on campuses, and Greg Sankey was a big fan of that. However, he believes the quarterfinals should also be on campus allowing the four teams with a bye to get a home playoff game.

Sankey thinks the prominent bowls should be used for the semifinals and national championship.

“There are a lot of factors involved, I would not reduce it to one,” Sankey said on the bowls vs. home sites debate. “I tend to favor bowl involvement. It allows preparation. It allows the kind of support.

"We’ve had one weekend of games on campus in December, that’s a learning opportunity. But we have a long history of bowl games. So we shouldn’t just be jumping to conclusions based on opinions."

The Penn State Nittany Lions will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl in the semifinals. The Ohio State Buckeyes will take on the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl in the other semifinal.