SEC AD's at odds over size of potential CFP expansion

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At this point in time, it seems as if everyone you talk to can agree that the College Football Playoff is going to expand past its 12 teams at some point over the next couple of years. Beyond that, it seems as if nobody can agree on anything.

Does it need to expand? When should it expand? How many teams should be in the field? Should there be automatic qualifiers? Do the Big Ten and SEC get priority if there are AQs? What do we do with conference championship games? When should the playoff start and end? Why are we doing any of this when most fans agree that 12 teams are adequate and that expanding will only hurt the sport?

Following the potential — and at this point, expected — expansion of the playoff has been nothing short of a headache over the past few months, and that's something that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is feeling between his temples at the current moment.

Ahead of the SEC spring meetings this week, Sankey has been championing his idea of a 16-team playoff field. However, after polling the conference's athletic directors, it has become increasingly clear that few are with him in this venture. On3 conducted an anonymous poll of the ADs in the conference, and just four of the 16 voters agreed with Sankey's 16-team model.

Instead, it appears that the vast majority either want to double the size of the field and go to 24 teams. Here's the full breakdown from On3:

24-team playoff: 8 votes

20-team playoff: 1 vote

16-team playoff: 4 votes

12-team playoff: 1 vote

While playoff expansion is expected to be the most prevalent topic this week at the SEC meetings, Sankey told reporters over the weekend that he isn't so sure a conclusion will be met, nor did he think there needed to be one. Regardless of where the field ends up, he's going to argue for what he thinks is the right move.

"I'm not an opponent of 24 or 28," Sankey said to ESPN's Pete Thamel. "We have to inform the decision-making. I think we did a good job informing our position last year on 16. We'll consider other ideas, certainly, this week and moving forward."

Nobody knows what the ultimate decision will be, but it's clear at this point that conversations about playoff expansion are going to dominate the airwaves this week at the SEC meetings. Prepare yourself.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: ADs in SEC undecided on correct size of expanded CFP field

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