SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey Blames Big Ten For College Football Playoff Expansion

The College Football Playoff has expanded from four teams to 12 teams and now, further expansion to 16 teams or, more likely, 24 teams, appears to be on the table.

Not everyone loves this, of course. Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer believes that expanding to 24 teams would be a serious mistake.

"Yeah, I think 24 is too much," Meyer said last week. "But I was wrong about 12. I thought 12 was a little bit too much. Miami gets in there, they would have never gotten in, and they should have won the national title. So, I think 24 is too much. You start dipping down, like you said, (into) the teams that have very mediocre years (and they) should not be in the playoffs, so I think 24 is too much."

But who's to blame for College Football Playoff expansion?

Greg Sankey, the commissioner of the SEC, believes that it's more on the Big Ten than it is his conference. Sankey said on Monday night that it was the Big Ten that started the push to grow beyond 12 teams.

SEC commissioner publicly calls out Big Ten

Sankey's comments come after Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said that a 16-team format would not be discussed at his conference meetings.

"I was surprised, because they brought 16 teams to the table last year. All those 16-team ideas, they weren't ours," Greg Sankey said on Monday night.

"I get why coaches want expansion. I never said that we were opposed to 24 teams, I've told my colleagues that"

Ultimately, the College Football Playoff is all about money - and more teams equals more revenue. So, expansion is likely coming again.

But, as the sport faces blowback for it, it seems like some finger pointing is going around.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 7:11 AM.