Recapping SEC spring meetings: A week of gridlock on the Gulf makes for a murky summer of decision-making
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. –- Another SEC spring meetings is in the books. Don't let the Paul Finebaum Show's picturesque background belie that all the real work happens in conference rooms deep in the bowels of the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.
As for how much work actually got done, well, put it like this: A week that began with hope for progress on the conference's touchstone issues of preferred playoff format and future schedule ends with no resolution and perhaps an even murkier timeline than we had thought headed into the heat of summer. As quickly as a good idea was suggested (LSU's Brian Kelly proposed an annual scheduling alliance with the Big Ten), it was shot down. Bad ideas like international SEC games were shot down, too (at least for now). Nagging frustrations like the lack of transfer portal reform continue to eat at coaches.
We unpack the conference's annual week on the beach with our reporters Brandon Marcello and John Talty playing a little game of "buy or sell?" to the following five topics.
1. Sankey's relationship with commissioners of the Big 12, ACC is beyond repair.Marcello -- SELL: Just a year ago, the Big 12's Brett Yormark and ACC's Jim Phillips told me that the relationships among the Autonomous 4 conference had never been better. The communication was open and honest after several years of cloak-and-dagger dealings around conference realignment. Those relationships are now strained, but not beyond repair. Sankey mentioned this week how terrible relationships were once during the BCS era among previous commissioners. Former SEC commish Roy Kramer told Sankey: "We hated each other as you walked out, and we always figured a way out."
In the end, relationships may be strained, but they'll figure something out.
Talty -- SELL: Sankey told a story this week about a recent phone call he had with former SEC commissioner Roy Kramer who told Sankey there were times he'd leave commissioner meetings so angry with his colleagues he didn't think they'd talk for a year and yet they always found a way to come together to get things done. Sankey sharing that anecdote wasn't a coincidence. Yes, the temperature in the room is rising and there could be more maneuvers coming that could inflame the situation, but most of the commissioners realize the old Godfather adage to be true: "It's not personal, it's strictly business."
2. The SEC's schools and coaches want the 4x4x2x2+1+3 CFP model.Marcello -- SELL: The athletic directors want four automatic qualifiers, and so do a few coaches, but the overwhelming majority of the coaches have sided with the 5+11 model. In the end, we always answer to the boss, right? The bosses have opted to re-examine their position in light of the coaches' voices this week. Still, the opportunity for the SEC to create two playoff play-in games and expand to nine league games with four AQs assured every year provides a significant amount of money that the league probably shouldn't pass up.
Talty -- SELL: The coaches made clear this week they aren't on the same page as their athletic directors. Based on what was shared in the room and what coaches shared publicly, the football coaches' preferred model is a 5+11 (assuming the field expands to 16 teams) that gives five automatic bids to the top five conference champions and everything else would be at-large. Despite that, the ADs are more aligned around the 4-4-2-2-1-3 model that would grant the SEC four automatic bids each season and have only three at-large bids.
3. Steve Sarkisian is right: We won't see an undefeated national champion again.Marcello -- BUY: It will take a generational team to go undefeated in this new era, particularly with the strain the transfer portal has placed on rosters and coaches. It's challenging to get players on the same page in a short amount of time, particularly with NIL dollars sometimes driving hostility in the locker room. Jealousy is real and more rampant than ever among teammates and it takes the perfect coach to create a culture that can handle 105 egos. Ryan Day figured that out in December after the Buckeyes, arguably the most talented team in the country, suffered a shocking loss to rival Michigan and he rallied the troops to a national title.
Talty -- BUY: It seems more likely we get more 2-loss champions like Ohio State last season than the undefeated ones in 2022 and 2023 before the playoff field expanded to 12 teams. It's not a new development that NIL has made it harder for schools to amass the overwhelming amount of talent it takes to run the table undefeated for a national title. There's more parity now and the more games teams have to play in playoffs that could soon expand to even more teams, the harder it'll be to be perfect. Just look at the NFL.
4. There will be a 9-game SEC schedule by 2026.Marcello -- BUY: The assurance of four automatic qualifiers, and a play-in opportunity for the top six teams in the conference, should be enough to convince the SEC to team up with the Big Ten and push the 4-4-2-2-1 CFP format across the finish line. If that happens, the SEC will move to nine games because the fear of an extra loss on the schedule will no longer be as significant with the selection committee's influence diminished.
Talty -- SELL: This is the hardest question to answer out of this five-pack, partly because there have been multiple times over the years where it felt like moving to nine games had real momentum, only to not happen. Sources have told CBS Sports that the majority of football coaches still like an 8-game schedule over nine, but ADs like the extra revenue that comes with it. Sankey also hasn't hidden the fact that he wants to move to nine games. I think eventually it'll get there -- and if the playoff expands and comes with automatic bids, it'll be an even easier sell -- but after another SEC spring meeting comes and goes without a decision on it, I think the SEC kicks the can down the road again and we don't get anything in time for 2026.
5. The SEC is as aligned with the Big Ten as the ACC is aligned with the Big 12.Marcello -- SELL: The leagues' administrators are aligned. The coaches are not. The Big Ten is primarily concerned with the prospect of the SEC sticking with eight league games. The Big Ten plays nine league games, and already sees itself at a disadvantage against the SEC because of the Big Ten's elite teams possibly picking up an additional loss. That's what's so amusing about the discussions this week. It's the Big Ten that should be more likely to support the 5+11 format, not the SEC. Still, the SEC is being steered as a prisoner of the moment after three of its three-loss teams were left out of the CFP last season.
Talty -- BUY: Contrary to Brandon, I'd argue the SEC and Big Ten are even more aligned than the ACC and Big 12, though it can depend on the issue. Each organization is ultimately going to do what is in its best interest and we've seen this week that even the SEC isn't a monolith and has plenty of contrasting opinions within its ranks. But the Big Ten and SEC have the control over the future of the College Football Playoff format – and, in many ways, the control over much of college sports altogether – and that requires them to work closely together. Greg Sankey never had a real partner in former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren, but he's seemingly found one in Tony Petitti.
cbssports
