SEC, Big Ten Scheduled For Round Two Of Joint Meetings To Prepare For Potential CFP Format Changes

Coming off the heels of the inaugural 12-team college football playoff, SEC and Big Ten leaders are going to meet for the second time in five months to discuss the future postseason format, along with the upcoming revenue-sharing legislation that's slated to start this summer. 

First reported by Heather Dinich, and Yahoo Sports, commissioners and athletic directors from both conferences will meet next month to continue their discussions about what the college football playoff could look like starting in 2026. Coming off Ohio State winning the national championship on Monday night in Atlanta, this is a very lucrative time to be a member of each conference. 

The first joint meeting between these two conferences took place in Nashville back in October, where both Greg Sankey and Tony Petitti wanted to lay the groundwork for what the CFP could look like in the coming years when the new contract with ESPN goes into effect after next season. 

One of the main topics of discussion this time around will focus on the CFP format, and how many teams are both conferences ready to openly advocate for in 2026. 

While it looks like we are headed towards playoff expansion, don’t expect the CFP to add two more teams to the mix in 2025, seeing that the new deal will start the following year. The biggest movement could be in 2026, when the CFP committee, along with commissioners from each conference vote to expand the playoff to 14 teams. 

Will The Big Ten And SEC Get More Automatic Bids To CFP?

Now, with both the SEC and Big Ten sharing a majority of the revenue from this new deal set to begin in 2026, they seemingly run the ship when it comes to potential changes within the playoff format. Yes, other conferences would need to agree to any type of changes, but it's clear that both the SEC and Big Ten want additional automatic qualifiers. 

Right now, they are only guaranteed two spots in the postseason, along with the Big 12 and ACC. For Notre Dame, agreeing to the playoff model meant that they would get a spot in the playoff, if their record and ranking warranted it. There have been talks that the Big Ten and SEC would like to increase their number of automatic bids to four each, but the pushback from some of the other conferences could present a road block. 

The second meeting between the SEC and Big Ten, scheduled to place in New Orleans, comes at the perfect time. One week after both conferences get together to hammer out their stance on what the playoff should look like, the CFP will hold their winter meeting in Dallas, where all ten commissioners will be in attendance. 

SEC, Big Ten Looking To Revenue Sharing Guidance, Title IX Details

While the college football playoff is obviously a major topic of discussion moving forward, the upcoming settlement of the House v. NCAA that would usher in revenue-sharing for schools is one of the biggest issues at the forefront of college athletics. 

Obviously, each school is trying to put together their own type of plan for how to handle the upcoming $20.5 million that will be distributed to athletes at each institution. Rather than having the players from a variety of sports be paid by a third party, the schools will be the ones writing the checks and dealing with roster budgets moving forward. 

One of the issues that the Big Ten and SEC have been discussing together is how to regulate that upcoming model. There has to be an enforcement side to this, where schools are learning and are trying to gather as much information as possible on the rules that will come with this new revenue-sharing deal. Yes, there will still be deals to be made with third party collectives. Those are not going away, as they provide players with more opportunities to make money outside what the school is paying them. 

While there are folks concerned about how the Department of Education put out their guidelines for Title IX, which seemingly said that the starting linebacker should be paid the same amount of money as the starting midfielder on the soccer team, the new White House administration will have a major impact on this moving forward. 

Seemingly, what was put out last week could be altered over the next few months by the Donald Trump administration, especially with the Department of Education trying to dictate terms of how Title IX should be presented in this new deal. 

In the grand scheme of college athletics, the next few months are going to be key when it comes to what the future looks like starting later this year. The Big Ten and SEC hold a majority of the cards in this new era of college athletics, but don’t expect other conferences, and Notre Dame, to just give in to every detail of potential change.

This is a pivotal time for college athletics, and the two biggest conferences are the type of folks that always want to be driving the car. We're about to find out if others are willing to just hand over the keys or put up a fight. 

My money is on a fight.