This Week in the West: SEC makes news (with the CFP), Trump’s planned EO and Pac-12 mediation stalls

The offseason is definitely not the slow season as yet another week delivered news impacting both the Pac- legacy schools and other universities across the region Here are four developments you might have missed SEC commissioner Greg Sankey talks CFP Nitty gritty During his opening remarks at SEC football media days Sankey acknowledged his conference and the Big Ten disagree over the future format of the College Football Playoff and suggested the event might not expand for the season after all Why it matters The structure of the CFP is the defining competitive issue for college sports over the second half of the decade with industry-wide ramifications and a deadline approaching The SEC and Big Ten control the format and must decide by December whether the field will expand to or teams and critically how participants would be selected At the moment the conferences disagree The Big Ten prefers a radical format based on automatic qualifiers while the SEC prefers a model that leans into at-large selections Comments by conference commissioners in new months indicated expansion to teams was a given but Sankey hinted Monday that the status quo could prevail We have a -team playoff with five conference champions Sankey revealed That can stay if we can t agree Not that it matters much but there is no groundswell of sponsorship among college football fans for expanding the event SEC mulls nine-game conference schedule again Nitty gritty The conference is engaged in ongoing internal conversations about the schedule change At this moment the SEC and ACC play eight conference games while the Big Ten and Big play nine Notably Sankey supports the move to nine but has received pushback from coaches Why it matters This is the issue at the heart of the CFP negotiations well this and the general distrust of the selection committee s process The Big Ten totally won t assistance the at-large model five automatic qualifiers and at-large teams favored by the SEC Big and ACC unless the SEC adds a ninth conference tournament to level the playing field But the SEC coaches are wary of adding the meeting particularly without assurances that the selection process will be tweaked to emphasize schedule strength Both issues the SEC s conference schedule and the CFP format must be resolved this fall I think nine games would promote great interest through the year Sankey narrated ESPN but it would be hard to coach Trump administration prepares executive order Nitty gritty The order would direct federal agencies specifically the National Labor Relations Board to determine whether college athletes can be considered employees of their schools according to a Yahoo review Why it matters Unable and unwilling to course-correct on its own college sports requirements help from Washington before it plunges into the abyss Although there are multiple challenges from the transfer portal to NIL to eligibility rules to the recruiting and competition calendars the central issue is employment If the athletes are declared employees they could collectively bargain an agreement that would solve all the aforementioned issues To collectively bargain they need to unionize In order to unionize they would need to be declared employees And to date the university presidents are unwilling to consider the employment model Any movement on employment within the White House or on Capitol Hill is worth monitoring albeit with the following caveat It could fizzle at any time because bipartisan encouragement for employment is limited also because there are more critical matters facing the country Related Articles Mailbag Contrarian view of the Pac- football schedule the circumstance for seven Texas State s probable the Sac State scenario and more How CFP format impacts Big showdowns vs SEC Big Ten opponents CFP dispute Washington AD Pat Chun offers context on the Big Ten s radical proposal Pac- Mountain West headed back to court after mediation goes nowhere SEC s Greg Sankey on CFP format NCAAT expansion and talks with Big Ten If it becomes reality an executive order would push the employment issue forward How far forward That s uncertain This doesn t definitely do anything Boise State sports law expert Sam Ehrlich wrote of the order on the social media platform X Mediation between Pac- and Mountain West fails Nitty gritty The conferences spent two months attempting to mediate the poaching penalty and exit fee lawsuits but were unable to resolve their differences A hearing on the Mountain West s motion to dismiss the poaching penalty lawsuit is scheduled for September Why it matters With approximately million on the line in total the litigation could impact the financial future and membership structure of both conferences Our sense based on conversations with legal sources unaffiliated with either league is the Pac- has a strong scenario in the poaching penalty lawsuits and the Mountain West has the better hand in the exit fee lawsuit filed by Colorado State Boise State and Utah State Clearly none of the involved parties felt pressured to settle at this stage There s a need to see more cards overturned in litigation a source commented The Pac- is under pressure in the next phase of the poaching penalty lawsuit with the hearing on the Mountain West s motion to dismiss But if the motion is denied and the situation moves forward as countless expect the leverage seemingly shifts in favor of the Pac- Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline