Greg Sankey hopes for resolution on SEC football schedule soon - ESPN

DESTIN, Fla. -- SEC commissioner Greg Sankey wouldn't say for certain whether the league would vote at its spring meetings this week on whether to use an 8- or 9-game conference schedule in football moving forward, but he said he's already "made clear what I think eventually should happen" and that he'd like to have a solution soon.

"I would prefer to not continue to circle the airport with the airplane," he said on Monday.

But a resolution could be difficult as schools appear split on what scheduling formula is most beneficial. Issues of bowl eligibility, competitive balance and television revenue are expected to be part of the conversation. The upcoming expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams is a factor as well. The two schedules at the center of the debate are an 8-game conference schedule that would feature one permanent opponent and seven rotating opponents, and a 9-game schedule with three permanent opponents and six rotating opponents.

Sankey has said previously that the focus on future scheduling involves no divisions.