SEC will blow up college football as we know it before sharing revenue | Opinion

SEC will blow up college football as we know it before sharing revenue | Opinion

Now he’s the lone warrior, raging against the dying of the light. Greg Sankey will not go gentle into that good College Football Playoff night.

Or something like that.

Here’s the problem with painting Sankey — SEC commissioner, and arguably the most powerful man in college sports — as the last obstacle to a booming, 24-team playoff field: You’re pointing the finger at the wrong guy.

Or in this case, the wrong people.

Sankey does nothing without marching orders from the 16 SEC presidents and chancellors. He gives them every possible piece of information, they digest it and ask questions, and he answers.

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Want to know why the SEC isn’t moving off a 16-team playoff? Because a 24-team playoff is the first big step to the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences consolidating and sharing media rights.

And that’s just not going to happen. The SEC will blow up college football ― the whole smash ― before sharing its billions and prime television windows on the biggest network in college sports with everyone else.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love poses on the red carpet before the 2026 NFL Draft at Point State Park.

Carnell Tate of Ohio State.

Kayden McDonald of Ohio State.

Francis Mauigoa of Miami.

Arvell Reese of Ohio State.

Mansoor Delane of LSU.

Dillon Thieneman of Oregon.

Rueben Bain Jr. of Miami arrives prior to the 2026 NFL Draft.

Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson poses on the red carpet.

Texas Tech Red Raiders linebacker David Bailey.

Colton Hood of Tennessee.

Kadyn Proctor of Alabama arrives prior to the 2026 NFL Draft.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love poses on the red carpet before the 2026 NFL Draft at Point State Park.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love poses on the red carpet before the 2026 NFL Draft at Point State Park.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Carnell Tate of Ohio State.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Kayden McDonald of Ohio State.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Francis Mauigoa of Miami.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Arvell Reese of Ohio State.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Mansoor Delane of LSU.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Dillon Thieneman of Oregon.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Rueben Bain Jr. of Miami arrives prior to the 2026 NFL Draft.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson poses on the red carpet.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Texas Tech Red Raiders linebacker David Bailey.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Colton Hood of Tennessee.

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Fashion and football meet in Pittsburgh on the NFL draft red carpet

Kadyn Proctor of Alabama arrives prior to the 2026 NFL Draft.

Because if a 24-team playoff doesn’t significantly increase the value of the CFP contract — which some industry insiders think it won’t — the only remaining alternative to generate revenue for the 10 FBS conferences is pooling media rights.

A move that’s fraught with potential financial and structural problems — even if the move leads to significantly more cash.

Now you know why Sankey left this week’s CFP meetings in Dallas reiterating the SEC’s 16-team preference ― or no expansion at all. Frankly, it's (another) obvious shot across the bow to everyone in college sports.

The big dog SEC isn’t just barking. It’s showing teeth.

If you want a 24-team playoff, you’ll do it without us. Go ahead and jump in the narrative deep end that the Big Ten has passed the SEC, and college sports will be healthier and happier if everyone pools media rights.

The SEC doesn’t care. Why, you ask?

Because the SEC has the ultimate trump card: It has ESPN, and has a longterm valuable product. Not a Big Ten three-year flash.

The SEC can — and you better believe will — take its ball and play a 10-game conference schedule with a couple of preseason games against any Group of Five school interested in earning a couple of million per game.

And don’t kid yourself, those G5 teams will line up to play those nonconference games and earn that cash.

The SEC will then have its own eight-team playoff to determine the conference champion. And if the other nine conferences are interested in their playoff champion playing the SEC champion for the national title, that’s a road the SEC will travel down. For the right price.

I don’t know how I can say this more definitively: The SEC will never share its media rights billions. They’ll walk away and leave college sports in ruins before that happens.

“Last year, we came out of Destin with very clear messaging,” Sankey said of the league’s annual spring meetings in the Florida panhandle. “Haven’t changed at this point.”

And won’t change. Not for 24 teams, not for anything.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why the SEC Is digging In — and daring college football to blink