Look, college football just keeps getting wilder, and this time, it ain’t the players making headlines—it’s the power moves happening behind the scenes. You ever watched someone stack the deck in their favor while pretending it’s all about the ‘greater good’? Yeah, that’s exactly what’s going down in the SEC. The conference’s boss man, Greg Sankey, got exposed for his latest power play, and folks ain’t too happy. Word on the street is that the SEC is scheming up a way to dominate the College Football Playoff (CFP) expansion by guaranteeing itself four automatic spots. But hold up—it gets even messier.
On February 23rd, the college football insider Chris Marler didn’t hold back when he hopped on SEC Mike’s ‘That SEC Football Podcast.’ “I think the SEC is screwing up the entire college football sport as a whole. I do. I really do.” Marler said. “I think it’s such a greedy power play that if they’re doing it because they want a fourth team in, and what they’re going to give up to get the fourth team in is playing a nine-conference game… just think it s–ks. I just..think the whole thing s–ks.” Translation? Sankey and his crew ain’t slick. They’re tryna turn the CFP into an SEC Invitational, and folks are finally calling them out on it.
So what’s really going down?
As future CFP formats are examined, conferences are looking into reinventing championship weekends.
Sources confirmed to @On3sports that early discussions for the SEC have included the possibility of 3 and 4 games. We mocked them w/2024 rankings.
Read: https://t.co/iaJWuh9VCJ pic.twitter.com/j4aVuG5kWs
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) February 21, 2025
The SEC is reportedly pushing a new conference championship format that would shake up everything we know about college football. According to On3’s Pete Nakos, the SEC is considering multiple championship weekend formats, including one where the top two teams automatically punch their ticket to the CFP while other teams battle for the remaining spots. Basically, they’re trying to create a scenario where four SEC teams get automatic playoff berths, leaving other conferences to fight for scraps. And it doesn’t stop there.
There’s talk of adding a ninth conference game to SEC schedules, which would literally help them in locking in a CFP 4-spot scenario, plus a separate TV deal with the Big Ten that could rake in millions while leaving everybody else out in the cold. It definitely seems like they’re taking the lead, leaving everyone else to figure out the rest. Meanwhile, the rest of college football is left wondering—how many changes are too many?
Greg Sankey knows the power his conference holds, and boy, he ain’t afraid to flex. “There’s a lot of interest in a nine-game conference schedule,” Sankey said during meetings in New Orleans. Translation? They’re setting the stage for an SEC and Big Ten takeover, securing more money, more exposure, and—yep—more playoff spots. If this plan goes through, the SEC and Big Ten could own nearly half the playoff field while the ACC, Big 12, and Group of Five get left begging for scraps.
That’s where the backlash is coming in hot. Fans and analysts are calling out the hypocrisy. On one hand, Sankey and SEC leadership preach about “keeping the sport competitive.” On the flip side, they’re plotting behind closed doors to box everyone else out and secure the bag for themselves. You see the problem, right?
Potential SEC Championship weekend could be in for a wild shake-up
According to Nakos, the SEC has two options on the table if the CFP expands in 2026 and the conference secures those four automatic spots. The first scenario? Business as usual. The top two teams face off in the traditional SEC Championship Game. But both squads are already locked into the CFP, no matter the result. The 3-seed plays the 6-seed, and the 4-seed plays the 5-seed, with the winners grabbing the other two SEC playoff bids. Sounds like a whole lot of stacking the deck, right?
Now, the second scenario is where things get really wild. Instead of a title game, the SEC would crown its champion based on regular-season results. And conference championship weekend would feature the top eight SEC teams playing in a do-or-die showdown. The 1-seed faces the 8-seed, the 2-seed battles the 7-seed, and so on. The 4 winners? They’re in the CFP. No SEC Championship Game, just straight chaos.
Look, at the heart of it all, college football is on the verge of turning into a two-conference power struggle. The SEC and Big Ten are trying to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. And if they pull it off, the sport could look a whole lot different real soon. Greg Sankey and his crew are playing chess while everyone else is stuck playing checkers. So what’s next? Well, nothing’s official yet, but don’t act surprised if this SEC shake-up becomes reality sooner rather than later. The money’s too big, and the power play is too strong. For sure, college football fans won’t be happy as the sport they love turns into a business-first, competition-second spectacle.
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