Leaders from the Big Ten and SEC, the two most powerful conferences in college sports today, are preparing to hold a joint meeting next month.
Per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, top school administrators from both conferences will hold a “historic” meeting in Nashville with topics set to include the future of the College Football Playoff format, regular-season and postseason scheduling arrangement, and the ongoing House v. NCAA settlement.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey will be the two most prominent people at the meeting.
The change to the College Football Playoff format starting in 2026 is “expected to be shaped by” the Big Ten and SEC, according to Dellenger. This comes after the two conferences pushed for a 14-team playoff model in February that would guarantee them both three automatic bids and reserve the two first-round byes for the Big Ten and SEC champions.
That proposal was when FBS leaders and the College Football Playoff were negotiating on the expanded format. They wound up settling for a 12-team field that will be in effect for 2024 and 2025.
Dellenger did note, citing people briefed on the meeting, that the expectation is no impactful decisions will be made right now and this is merely the “next step in a partnership that the two conferences entered six months ago with the creation of a joint board.”
The two conferences announced in February a joint advisory board in an attempt to work on solutions to some of the big issues facing college athletics.
Among the issues are the $2.7 billion settlement in the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit that was recently put on hold. Judge Claudia Wilken declined to rule at a Sept. 5 hearing on a preliminary approval due to concerns over the NCAA’s efforts to limit athlete compensation from third-party entities.
Wilken advised the settlement attorneys to “go back to the drawing board” to find a solution. The settlement was originally agreed upon by the NCAA and each of the Power Five conferences in May.
The SEC-Big Ten partnership came about after both conferences agreed to historic television contracts that completely reshaped the landscape in college sports. The Big Ten signed a seven-year pact with Fox, CBS and NBC in August 2022 that will pay the conference $7 billion over the life of the deal.
ESPN and the SEC agreed to a 10-year deal worth $3 billion in December 2020 that went into effect with the 2024-25 academic year. The Big 12 is the only other Power Five conference that will earn at least $300 million on its television contract starting with the 2025-26 academic year.
Realignment has seen both conferences add multiple powerhouse programs this year. Texas and Oklahoma left the Big 12 for the SEC. USC, Oregon, UCLA and Washington jumped from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten.
Those two conferences now have a combined 34 teams. The other Power Five conferences currently have 36 teams, with just two in the Pac-12. The Pac-12 will add five more programs starting in 2026.
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