SEC commissioner Mike Slive sat down for a Q&A session with the media yesterday. Tony Barnhart of CBSSports.com has the particulars. We’ll just hit on some of the highlights:
Asked if he had any doubt that a four-team playoff was on the way: “I’d say the right word to use is ‘hopeful.’ We are committed to the four-team playoff. We’ve been talking about it for four years and that is where we’re comfortable. We support the four-team playoff. How it’s done and where it’s done are issues we all have to discuss as a group… There are a number of issues that the commissioners still have to work through. I’m hopeful that somehow we can find a place where we can all be comfortable. But our conference believes that if you’re going to have a four-team playoff then the best four teams should be chosen for that playoff.”
Asked would he compromise on a 3 champs plus a wild card plan: ”I support taking 1-2-3-4. I think that is the simplest solution and the one our fans will best understand and accept. I believe that we are all guardians of the game and we should do what is best for the game. Yes, we are responsible for our own conferences. But I think we have to be careful about gerrymandering who should be in the playoffs.”
Asked twice about a possible SEC Network, Slive said on both occasions: “We are currently talking to our TV partners about our TV future.”
Asked about further expansion: “I was comfortable at 12. We were comfortable at 12. It’s institutions like Texas A&M and Missouri came and said they were interested in our league… We weren’t in an expansionist mode, and we aren’t in an expansionist mode now.”
