Georgia president Jere Morehead: 'A 24-team Playoff is a mistake'

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I think it’s going to devalue Georgia-Alabama or Georgia-Oklahoma next year. So I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Morehead, who took office in 2013 and is the SEC’s third-longest tenured president. “I was okay with going to 16. I thought that was a good number. But 24 scares me, particularly jumping from 12 to 24. If we went to 16 and tried that for a few years, see how it goes, and then we can evaluate whether we should go to 24. And from my standpoint, I would just stay at 12 then, if we can’t get an agreement on 16. But again, there’s one person in the room I’m always going to be listening to and that’s Commissioner (Greg) Sankey. And so if he were to give me arguments to the contrary, then I would listen to him.” Sankey, speaking last week, reiterated he still favored expansion to 16, while not expressly ruling out 24. But he added that research remained to be done on whether it would hurt the regular season, including whether it would lead to teams resting players. More importantly, per sources, is the financial part: The SEC would lose its lucrative championship game, which it values at around $100 million, and it’s not clear whether additional CFP games would make up for that. Still, Sankey will discuss expansion at the SEC meetings next week in Destin, Fla., which could be pivotal for the future of the CFP. The ACC, Big 12 and Notre Dame have come out in favor of the Big Ten’s preferred 24-team field, but the SEC essentially still has veto power. Morehead was asked what the dynamic in the room will be when it comes to the CFP decision. Sankey is ultimately employed by the SEC’s 16 presidents and chancellors and listens to them. “Yeah, but we listen to him too,” Morehead said. “As long as Commissioner Sankey is at 16, I think we’ll be at 16. Because I think there’s great respect for his position on any issue.” Some athletic directors and coaches have come out in favor of 24. Would there be enough to sway Sankey and the presidents? “I think there’s a lot of concern about what 24 is going to do to the regular season,” Morehead said. “You know, we depend on these sell-out home games, the high ratings that we get for our football games during the season. If those become devalued and if those ratings drop because people see it like the NBA, that these games don’t matter anymore, then that affects our situation, in terms of being able to negotiate the next television contract. That’s concerning to me. “And I’m not sure that the Big Ten has really thought through the long-term implications of what this is going to do to the regular season. Having said all of that, if the commissioner came, you know, decided after evaluating it, it was time for us to do it, I’ll be with the commissioner. But I haven’t seen the evidence to support it yet.” There’s also another possibility, further down the line, that Morehead embraced: The SEC forming its own, separate playoff. That connects to what may be the dominant discussion in meetings next week in Destin: The SEC forming its own rules, from eligibility to the regulations that govern player payments. The College Sports Commission, which was created after the House settlement to enforce third-party payments, is not meeting the needs of the industry. “They don’t have the manpower, they don’t have the depth to do the work that’s necessary,” Morehead said. “My concern is that there are some institutions that are not reporting their third-party initial deals, and they’re just expecting they’re going to be able to get away with it.” Morehead is a key voice in college athletics as he’s been active in NCAA and SEC matters, serving on the NCAA board of directors, including as the chair. He was among those invited to the White House roundtable in April on the future of college athletics. Morehead said he didn’t know if there would be a vote on any of the non-CFP expansion topics next week in Destin, but expects there to be “robust” discussion. The hope is that the SEC would take the lead, then other conferences would follow, and they would all end up in a better spot than the current situation. But if not, and if there is no agreement on a Playoff format, could the SEC just pull away and run its own postseason? It probably could not happen until after the 2031-32 football season, since the current CFP contract runs through then. But Morehead likes the idea. “I think that would be fantastic,” Morehead said. “I can’t imagine the ratings if that happened. Georgia-Alabama SEC championship last year had ratings through the roof. Imagine if that had been for the national championship. I think our fan base is strong across the country. I think we’d have tremendous interest in a situation of that nature. But, again, I’m going to be listening to the commissioner.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms