SEC, Greg Sankey rain on Memphis football playoff dreams
College football’s little guy just can’t have nice things.
Group of Five conferences were momentarily teased with a potential benefit from the Pac-12’s impending doom.
With that conference in ashes, that would broaden the avenue for the Group of Five to secure a second bid to the 12-team College Football Playoff, set to debut in 2024.
The approved playoff format doesn’t guarantee bids for any particular conference, but the format of automatic bids for the top six conference champions, plus six at-large bids, created the likelihood of five Power Five automatic qualifiers, with the remaining bid fought over by the Group of Five.
The Pac-12 is nearly out of the picture, though, and that would open room for, say, Tulane and Boise State to claim automatic bids. Or, Troy and Fresno State. Get it in gear, Memphis. This is your chance.
College football’s postseason never left much room for the underdog to operate. Two Group of Five teams playing first-round playoff games against Big Ten or SEC bluebloods would be the type of postseason upset-alert potential this sport traditionally lacks.
Could Tulane win the national championship? Probably not. Could it win a first-round playoff game? The Green Wave’s upset of Southern Cal in the Cotton Bowl suggests it could.
Heck, a fan of an SEC team like Ole Miss, Mississippi State or South Carolina might even appreciate an underdog story like that. Already, though, the big dogs are closing in on the underdogs.
I never figured SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey or his power-conference peers would want a long-term playoff format that affords access to two plucky Group of Fives. One spot was a compromise from the power conferences, but two? That’s just too generous, especially with the SEC and Big Ten growing into super-league size.
But the current playoff contract runs through the 2025 season, so I thought maybe, just maybe, we’d get two refreshing years where 16.7% of the playoff spots would go to a couple of teams aiming to do their best Boise State Fiesta Bowl impersonation.
Ah, but hold on, here comes the SEC with his powerful fist, ready to nip this idea in the bud, posthaste.
Sankey said on “The Paul Finebaum” show last week that in response to Big Ten and Big 12 raids that kneecapped the Pac-12, he wants to re-evaluate how playoff bids were distributed.
“Circumstances have changed, and I think it’s wise for us to take a step back and reconsider what the (CFP) format might look like,” Sankey said.
Translation: How can this format be revised to further favor the SEC?
The playoff format will go under review when commissioners convene later this month in Dallas, Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday.
The best-case scenario for the SEC or Big Ten would be removing automatic bids altogether in favor of an at-large-only format. Without automatic bids, conference championships would be diminished, and the Group of Five probably would get shut out of playoff selection in most years, while the SEC and Big Ten gobbled up bids and the ACC and Big 12 fought for a few scraps.
An at-large-only format likely won't gain the necessary support from Group of Five conferences, meaning automatic bids probably would survive, if perhaps in a reduced number.
A likelier outcome is an eventual switch from the six auto/six at-large format to five automatic bids, plus seven at-large teams.
In July, American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco described the 6+6 playoff format as a “long-overdue opportunity" for programs in conferences like the AAC.
Weeks later, the Pac-12’s crumble left the 6+6 model under assault. That leaves Aresco and his Group of Five peers needing to find a soft landing to preserve as many automatic bids as possible.
It’s a tricky tightrope.
Just last summer, Sankey mused that the SEC could stage its own playoff. If the Group of Five rocks the boat too fiercely, the power conferences could tell it to buzz off. But the Group of Five can't afford to roll over, either, and surrender automatic-bid access it has worked so long to attain.
“I’d like to keep it at six (automatic qualifiers)," Aresco told Yahoo! Sports, "but I understand that you have to have a discussion. It’s really key to keep the automatics.”
How many automatics?
Six automatics works best for the Group of Five leagues.
Five works better for the SEC and Big Ten.
And the SEC is accustomed to winning — both on the field and at the bargaining table. I think I see where this is headed. As usual, it doesn’t look good for the little guy.
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