Big Ten stole the SEC's playbook for CFP. That's bad for a 16-team field

TheBig Tenholds the cards, and it’s showing theSECits hand.

The numbers are 12 or 24.

"We've had zero conversation about 16 (playoff teams)," Big Ten commissioner Tony Petittisaid at the conference’s spring meetings in California.

That’s the line in the sand.

If the SEC wants to expand theCollege Football Playoff, then the number is 24, a number set by Petitti.

Or, the playoff can stay at 12 teams, a format the Big Ten has dominated in its brief existence.

Petitti’s hardball stance amounts to a move ripped from the Greg Sankey playbook.

Big Ten steals SEC's power-move playbook

You’ll remembera few years ago, Sankey held the best cards in playoff expansion talks. The SEC's commissioner wasn’t afraid to use them.

When other conference commissioners supported an eight-team playoff that included six automatic bids for conference champions, Sankey erected a firewall.

Sankey laid out three options:

1. Status quo of a four-team playoff, which the SEC dominated.

2. An eight-team playoff with no automatic bids and only at-large selections.

3. A 12-team playoff that’d include a mix of automatic and at-large bids.

The eight-team playoff, with six AQs, died on the vine because the SEC vehemently opposed it.

After some squabbling, Option 3 emerged as the winner.

Now, the shoe has switched feet, and the Big Ten is setting the terms for the playoff’s size.

The SEC must choose between a format the Big Ten rules (12) or an expansion model the Big Ten suggested (24), instead of the format SEC headquarters prefers (16, including 11 at-large bids).

So much for theSEC-B1G buddy groupthe conferences announced two years ago, in a pledge to team up to solve problems together.

Petitti, a former MLB Network executive, took the reins of the Big Ten in 2023. He swiftly learned college athletics is a get-mine business and no place for friendship bracelets.

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A 24-team College Football Playoff? No thanks

I’m opposed to a 24-team bracket. It would turn an already long playoff into a five-round affair and bulldoze the playoff’s exclusivity, by opening access to 8-4 teams.

Most importantly, it would devalue the greatest regular season in all of sports.

Petitti likes to point to MLB’s playoff expansion — it went from eight to 10 to ultimately 12 teams — as a model for the CFP.

He’s comparing apples to oranges. It’s absurd to compare a sport with a 162-game regular season and a full complement of games each day to a sport with a 12-game regular season that turns each fall Saturday into appointment viewing.

College basketballserves as a better comparisonfor what Petitti attempts to do to college football.

In a rare act of teamwork,Sankey and Petitti helped muscle through March Madness expansion to 76 teams.College basketball’s regular season is low-stakes filler. At 76 teams, a power-conference team might need only to finish barely above .500 to earn tournament selection. The college basketball diehards watch throughout a monthslong regular season, but most folks wander in when March arrives, as the postseason nears.

Hey, that works for college basketball, which is a tournament sport. College football is distinctly not a tournament sport. It’s always been more of a rivalry-Saturday kind of a sport, where every outcome matters.

Will SEC cave to Big Ten demands?

Although I object Petitti’s vision for the playoff, I understand why he’s not motivated to meet in the middle at 16. He’s paid to represent the Big Ten, and a 16-team bracket would be a greater benefit to the SEC, based on recent history.

Plus, a mega-sized playoff like the 24-teamer the Big Ten supports would allow Fox, its media rights partner, a chance at getting a piece of the playoff pie.

ESPN, the SEC’s media partner and CFP rights holder, prefers a playoff of no more than 16.

With Petitti’s line in the sand drawn, next week’s SEC spring meetings will test Sankey’s power and mettle. They’ll also offer a peek at what size playoff the conference’s presidents and chancellors prefer. Those campus administrators are the quiet but powerful brokers in these negotiations, more so than coaches or athletic directors.

Consider the SEC a company where Sankey functions as CEO serving at the pleasure of the presidents and chancellors, who operate as the company’s board of directors.

Georgia president Jere Morehead, an influential voice among the SEC's presidents and chancellors,told The Athletica 24-team playoff would be "a mistake." Morehead added he thinks the SEC's university brass will follow Sankey's guidance.

Can Sankey persuade the SEC’s presidents and chancellors to stay at 12 teams, if 16 isn’t possible? At 12 teams,the SEC doesn't face a playoff access problem. It received more bids to the 12-team bracket in two years than any other conference. Playoff performance has become the SEC’s issue, a problem that’s not inherently solved by expansion.

A 24-team playoff likely would end conference championship games. If Sankey could convince university administrators the SEC championship game is a sacred cash cow worth saving, that might extend the life of the 12-team playoff.

Don’t expect a solution at the SEC meetings, but they’ll be a bellwether of the conference’s latest playoff mood.

The Big Ten discarded the 16-team option. The SEC has six months to decide which card to choose from the Big Ten's hand: 12 or 24.

Blake Toppmeyeris the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Email him atBToppmeyer@gannett.comand follow him on X@btoppmeyer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:SEC's College Football Playoff plans for 16 teams boxed out by Big Ten

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

May 22, 2026

Big Ten stole the SEC's playbook for CFP. That's bad for a 16-team field

TheBig Tenholds the cards, and it’s showing theSECits hand. The numbers are 12 or 24. "We've had zero conversation about...

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It’s all over now: Jagger’s A-list party broken up by police

It was a star-studded celebration to wrap up weeks of filming on one of the most dramatic and remote islands in the Mediterranean.

But a post-production party thrown on the volcanic island of Stromboli forSir Mick Jagger, Dakota Johnson, Josh O’Connor and a host of other British and American celebrities has fallen foul of local bylaws and zealous officials. It was unceremoniously broken up by Italian police on Wednesday night.

The officers were sent in on the orders of the mayor of Lipari, a neighbouring island, which is the administrative centre of theAeolian archipelago, a scatter of impressive outcrops which lie between Calabria and Sicily.

He said the party contravened noise control regulations.

The intervention of the police was met, according to local media, with “perplexity mixed with hilarity” by 82-year-old Sir Mick and his co-stars, who included the Irish actress and singer Jessie Buckley, Saoirse Ronan, and Hollywood actressIsabella Rossellini.

Rossellini has a close personal connection to the island – her father Roberto directed the 1950 cult film Stromboli, which was shot on the island, and had an affair with its leading lady, the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, whom he later married.

Sir Mick and the cast and crew have spent the past few weeks filming an adaptation of an illustrated book called Three Incestuous Sisters by the American writerAudrey Niffenegger.

The book is about three sisters who live together in a house by the sea and vie for the romantic attentions of the lighthouse keeper’s son.

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Sir Mick plays the lighthouse keeper in the gothic drama, which is directed by Italian director Alice Rohrwacher. His son is played by O’Connor, who received plaudits for his portrayal of Prince Charles in the Netflix drama The Crown.

While on Stromboli, Sir Mick reportedly stayed in a villa where Roberto Rossellini began his affair with Bergman.

Row between the two islands

The break-up of the film party this week prompted a row between thetwo islands.

Rosa Oliva, the head of the tourist office on Stromboli, said it was a mean-spirited decision by Riccardo Gullo, the mayor of Lipari.

Rather than being “valued and supported” after a tough winter of bad weather and suspended ferry services, Stromboli had been “penalised”.

The celebrities should have been welcomed with open arms, rather than subjected to a “punitive intervention”, she said.

“From the mayor of Lipari, one would have expected a welcome to the guests, or at least a greeting and a thank you for their crucial contribution to the Aeolian economy and their visibility. Our islands live off tourism,” she said.

It is not known whether the reaction of the Rolling Stones’ frontman was annoyance or amusement.

Either way, he left the island on Thursday by private helicopter.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

May 22, 2026

It’s all over now: Jagger’s A-list party broken up by police

It was a star-studded celebration to wrap up weeks of filming on one of the most dramatic and remote islands in the Mediterranean. ...

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'The Late Show' is over. Stephen Colbert isn't done.

What willStephen Colbert's legacy be?

The story of the quintessentially American comedian did not end on May 21, in spite of the funerary pomp and circumstance surroundingthe finale episode of "The Late Show" on CBS, which Colbert has hosted since 2015. There are miles yet before the 62-year-old Colbert sleeps,even if this act of his career has come to a close. It's already his second or third act to date, depending on how you count.

But inthe long story of Stephen Colbertthere will be an incendiary chapter aboutthis moment in cultural history,which started almost a year ago when he announced CBS had canceled "Late Show" and thus his daily tenure on our screens. That move threw an industry into confusion, drew both political backlash and celebration and has resulted in a monthlong last hurrah fromColbert and his many friendsthat has the country's zeitgeist on tenterhooks like it's the series finale of "Game of Thrones."

Colbert stepped out on the stage for his May 21 finale bearing the weight of a divided nation, tongue-wagging internet haters andpresidents former (Barack Obama) on his couchand current (Donald Trump) tweeting down his neck. He managed the finale with aplomb, ever the showman and professional.

The comedian started with ashort farewell acknowledging his crew, followed by a pretty typical monologue poking at the regular news (like sinkholes at airports) and his own news (even dolphins know he got canceled). He pivoted to his hyperactive regular segment "Meanwhile," which contained no less than one attempt to get CBS sued, two celebrity interruptions and one cackle-worthy sushi joke.

The final "Late Show" guest wasn't actually Pope Leo XIV as jokingly teased, butBeatles legend Paul McCartney, a major part of the history ofNew York's Ed Sullivan Theaterwhere "The Late Show" has taped for 34 years. Other hosts may have used an icon like McCartney to further shine the spotlights on themselves, but Colbert chatted with McCartney like it was any other night. The musician talked about his new album, his childhood and reminisced about performing on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964, where he got his first impressions of America, the great democracy. McCartney told Colbert he hopes that the country will remain so.

There were bits about CBS and equal time. There were spit takes and more celebrity cameos than you could count. There was a wormhole. Colbert quoted his great literary love, "The Lord of the Rings." Former bandleader Jon Batiste returned to sing alongside Colbert (and current bandleader Louis Cato and Elvis Costello). There was great joy, which Colbert spoke about championing everyday with his crew and colleagues.

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And mostly there was Colbert, with his awkward, goofy, endearing self. His brand of comedy – from his early career with improv group Second City and his "Daily Show" correspondent days to getting his own show "The Colbert Report" to a decade on network TV – was never about charm or fluff or flash.

Colbert's strength has always been his point of view, cutting satire, geekiness and heart. Anyone watching could feel the emotion radiating from the host all night, even as he pretended to be sucked into the abyss.

It was a silly, funny and affecting episode of television. By the time Colbert was singing "Hello, Goodbye" with McCartney, Costello, Cato and Batiste, he didn't need to say anything else.

You shouldn't expect anything less than confidence and grace from Colbert. He's the man who stayed in character as a conservative blowhard for over a decade, who made "Strangers with Candy" one of the weirdest and most-fun comedy shows on TV, and who told off yet another president (George W. Bush) to his face at Washington, D.C.'s biggest fête.

So no, Stephen Colbert is not done. "The Late Show" is done. Late-night TV might be done soon. But voices like Colbert don't disappear into the wind without a shiny wooden desk in front of them and a broadcast company behind them.

This chapter is over. Another one begins.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'The Late Show' finale proves Stephen Colbert isn't done

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

May 22, 2026

'The Late Show' is over. Stephen Colbert isn't done.

What willStephen Colbert's legacy be? The story of the quintessentially American comedian did not end on May 21, in spite of t...

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Italy's 'Slow Food' founder Carlo Petrini dies at 76

By Giulia Segreti and Alvise Armellini

Italy's 'Slow Food' founder Carlo Petrini dies at 76

ROME, May 22 (Reuters) - Carlo Petrini, the Italian founder of the international "Slow Food" movement, which reshaped global thinking on food production and consumption, died at the ‌age of 76, the organisation said.

Petrini died on Thursday in his hometown of Bra, in the ‌northwestern Italian region of Piedmont, it added, without giving a cause of death. He had revealed in recent years that he had been ​diagnosed with prostate cancer.

"He brought to life a global movement rooted in the values of good, clean, and fair food for all," Slow Food said in a statement.

An orator and writer with strong views, Petrini spoke about agriculture and food quality as cultural, social and political matters.

He helped elevate small-scale farmers, traditional food practices and biodiversity at a ‌time when mass consumption and globalisation threatened ⁠to erode them.

"The passing of Carlo Petrini leaves a huge void not only in the world of food and wine science, but also in society as a whole, and ⁠not just in Italy," said Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

SLOW FOOD VERSUS FAST FOOD

Known as 'Carlin' by friends and Slow Food supporters, he set up the grassroots movement in 1986 in protest against McDonald's opening of its first fast food restaurant in ​Italy, ​near Rome's famed Spanish Steps.

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"Once on a plane, a man ​approached me and said, 'I'm your enemy. I'm responsible ‌for all the McDonald's in Italy,'" Petrini told the Corriere della Sera newspaper in December.

"I replied that I was actually grateful, because without them there would be no Slow Food."

The movement, which emphasised quality, environmental sustainability and equitable conditions for producers grew under his leadership from a small group of friends in the countryside into an international global network in more than 160 countries.

Petrini also opened the University of Gastronomic Sciences in the town ‌of Pollenzo, created the Ark of Taste, an international catalogue of ​endangered foods, and Terra Madre, a global forum of food communities, ​producers and chefs.

FRIENDS WITH KING CHARLES AND POPE ​FRANCIS

He had a very strong bond with his sister Chiara, but never established a ‌family of his own. "I feel part of a ​bigger family," he said, when ​asked whether he had regrets about not marrying or having children.

Petrini was a personal friend of Britain's King Charles, a longstanding champion of organic farming, and of the late Pope Francis, an Argentine whose ​Italian immigrant family also hailed from ‌Piedmont.

The Slow Food founder, a self-declared agnostic, admired Francis' pro-environment "Laudato Si" encyclical and would send the ​pontiff an annual Christmas gift of tajarin, a traditional, thin ribbon-like egg pasta from Piedmont.

(Reporting by ​Alvise Armellini and Giulia Segreti; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

May 22, 2026

Italy's 'Slow Food' founder Carlo Petrini dies at 76

By Giulia Segreti and Alvise Armellini Italy's 'Slow Food' founder Carlo Petrini dies at 76 ROME, May 22 (Reuters)...

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Everest record-holder Kami Rita Sherpa urges limit on climbers as crowds swell on the peak

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A renownedMount Everestguide who this week scaled the peak a record 32nd time urged authorities on Friday to limit climbers on the summit.

Nepal Everest

The number of climbers making the ascent on the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak from the Nepalese side is higher this season because China has closed the route from Tibet. Everest can be scaled from either the southern side in Nepal or the northern side in China.

On Wednesday, 274 climbers reached the summit, the highest number on a single day from the Nepal side. A total of 494 climbers have been issued permits by Nepal’s mountaineering authorities and an equal number Sherpa guides are accompanying them.

“It was very crowded this year compared to last year because there was more clients,”Kami Rita Sherpatold reporters at Kathmandu airport after flying back from the mountain. “There is a need for authorities to control this number.”

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Climbers only get a few windows of good weather to make their attempt on the summit. A large number of people waiting in a fixed rope line they are all clipped into increases the risks of a traffic jam and exposes the climbers to increased hours of harsh weather.

Kami Rita's closest competitor,Pasang Dawa Sherpa, scaled the peak for the 31st time on Friday, which was his second successful ascent this week

Kami Rita, 56, first climbed Everest in 1994, and has been making the trip nearly every year since. He is one of many Sherpa guides whose expertise and skills are vital to the safety and success of foreign climbers aspiring to stand on top of the mountain each year.

His father was among the first Sherpa guides. In addition to Everest, Kami Rita has climbed other peaks that are among the world’s highest, including K2, Cho Oyu, Manaslu and Lhotse.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

May 22, 2026

Everest record-holder Kami Rita Sherpa urges limit on climbers as crowds swell on the peak

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A renownedMount Everestguide who this week scaled the peak a record 32nd time urged authorities on Friday to li...

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