SEC Commissioner Defends March Madness Expansion, Explains Opposition to 24-Team CFP Format

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey seems to be in favor of the expansion of the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments while opposing expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams.

He spoke about both Monday, which was notable since the basketball tournaments will expand from 68 teams to 76 starting with the 2026-27 campaign. The future of the CFP is still up in the air with Sankey preferring 16 teams to the 24-team proposal.

Sankey pointed out basketball fans have already seen teams advance from the First Four to the Final Four and said he thinks the field should include "the top 50 analytically, committee-determined teams," per Emilee Smarr of the Tuscaloosa News.

"You know, there's a combination eligible to participate," he added. "What we do is give away spots for automatic bids, because that's the ethos of the term. It seems a reasonable balance. And I think all the criticism and negativity, that's the way social media rolls."

Sankey's dismissive nod to social media was notable since the expansion of the tournament was immediately met with criticism from fans and commentators alike. At a certain point, continuously increasing the field will diminish the regular season and the accomplishment of making the Big Dance.

Which, ironically, seemed to be Sankey's concern on the football side of things.

"To me, there is a tipping point in November where a game like I just described, that goes from, 'Hey, we're at 6-2 hanging on for dear life, we really don't have a chance at a four-team playoff but you've been brought into it in the 12 team playoff,' can go the other way, where a team two weeks out is in and feels good about hosting or not hosting depending on how large you go," he said, per Alex Scarborough of 247Sports.

While he prefers a 16-team field, he isn't closing the door on a 24-team one.

"We're open to the conversation, but there are a lot of ideas out there that have to be supported with analysis and information, not speculation," he said. "And with something as important as a regular season in college football—hey, if you can build the regular season and build the postseason through expansion in a different way, awesome. Let's get to it. But let's understand that.

"Now, at any level of expansion, there will be games that didn't matter in a smaller number that now matter in a bigger number. But there's another side to that coin—a game the next to last weekend that right now is critically important."

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It should be noted, expanding the CFP from four to 12 teams has not exactly gone well for the SEC in the initial years.

While Alabama (three times), Georgia (two times) and LSU all won the national title during the four-team era, the Big Ten has won three consecutive national championships. The most recent two of those titles won by Ohio State and Indiana came during the 12-team era.

What's more, the SEC is a combined 5-8 in CFP games the past two seasons with additional teams from the Big Ten and other conferences having more opportunities with an expanded field.

Those opportunities figure to continue arriving if the field expands to 24 teams, and Sankey is hesitant to say the least.