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NEW ORLEANS — Following a joint meeting between athletic directors representing their respective conferences on Wednesday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said they agreed that the way teams are seeded in the 12-team College Football Playoff should change this fall.

While the voices of the two wealthiest and most powerful conferences certainly carry weight, any changes for the 2025 season have to be unanimously agreed upon by the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua.

“I’m prepared to vote for seeding change, but it has to be unanimous,” Sankey said.

This past season, the four highest-ranked conference champions earned the top four seeds and a first-round bye. It was one of the most controversial facets of the format because it allowed for ninth-ranked Boise State, which won the Mountain West Conference, to earn the No. 3 seed and for 12th-ranked Arizona State to earn the No. 4 seed. Third-ranked Texas and fourth-ranked Penn State were runners-up in their respective conferences, but they couldn’t be seeded higher than Nos. 5 and 6 because the top four seeds were reserved for conference champions.

A popular suggestion to change the seeding for this fall — which Petitti said he favored — has been to use the selection committee’s ranking for the seeding while still making room for the five highest-ranked conference champions. In that model, the committee’s top four teams would earn the top four seeds and first-round byes, regardless of whether they were conference champions. That would also open the door for Notre Dame, which can’t win a conference title as an independent, to earn a first-round bye as a top-four seed.

“We’re in favor of going to a straight seeding, where there’s no difference between rankings and seeding like we had this year,” Petitti said. “We’re in support of that for next year.”

The joint meeting between the Big Ten and SEC came less than a week before both Petitti and Sankey will meet in Dallas with their fellow FBS commissioners and Bevacqua to begin a thorough review of the inaugural 12-team playoff.

The SEC and Big Ten have the bulk of control over what the CFP will look like when the new contract with ESPN begins following the 2025 season. That power was part of the negotiation process that also included guaranteed access for conference champions and certain protections for Notre Dame.

When asked directly what their respective conferences would like the playoff to look like in 2026 and beyond, Sankey declined to get into specifics.

“That’s something we owe our colleagues first,” he said, referring to his fellow FBS commissioners. “I think I’ve been consistent in that observation.”

For almost a year, multiple sources in both leagues have indicated a strong preference for expanding the field to 14 teams in 2026 and beyond. Sources in the SEC and the Big Ten have also favored a certain number of automatic playoff spots for each league, but even within each league there remain varying opinions.

Sources in the Big Ten seem more aligned in their desire for automatic qualifiers. A popular model includes four guaranteed teams each from the Big Ten and SEC, two teams each from the Big 12 and ACC, one spot for the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion, and one at-large spot, which could go to Notre Dame if the Irish were ranked high enough for inclusion.

While Sankey declined to speak directly about automatic qualifiers, he said the leagues have talked about everything regarding format and will continue to.

“This is not a new issue,” Sankey said.

Petitti said that because of the way the power is divided, eventually both leagues need to come to a consensus on what they want it to look like moving forward — but there are no restrictions on where ideas can come from moving forward.

“The process going forward if we decide to make changes contemplates that the structure of that is led by the SEC and the Big Ten, so it requires us to get to a consensus to make a meaningful recommendation, if any, to our colleagues in other leagues, and it also requires us to give them an opportunity to weigh in on whatever it is that we’re thinking about,” he said.

Sankey said the 2026 season is a “pretty small part” of the agenda for next week’s CFP meeting in Dallas, during which much of the time is expected to focus on 2025. This week was an opportunity, though, for both conferences to start in-person discussions about the future.

“I think we both individually owe our colleagues an update on our thinking,” Sankey said. “Is it alignment? I’m not going to use that word. We’ve got our issues to work through. Our regular-season scheduling issue … can we compare notes? Absolutely, but I’d be cautious about using the word ‘alignment’ at this point.”

Sankey said he still wants a stronger understanding of the selection committee’s decision-making process over the past few years. He pointed to inconsistencies in the value of conference championship games and strength of schedule.

“We entrust them with that work, but there are domino effects from those selection decisions,” Sankey said. “I’m not forming the agenda [for next week], but I’m identifying things that are regularly a part of our conversation.”

Petitti echoed what former selection committee chair and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said, which was that the committee did what was required of them according to the system designed by the commissioners.

“I believe the committee was doing the work that was set in place,” Petitti said. “… Overall, that system that is taking place is part of the ideas we’re raising about the process for next year because that would give the committee more flexibility to do the job in a way that’s much clearer for fans.”

On Monday, SEC coaches met with the league’s athletic directors, and the ADs met again separately on Tuesday here as part of their regularly scheduled meetings before the Big Ten joined them. Sankey said considerations for a nine-game league schedule remain a part of their consideration, but no decisions have been made yet.

“I think there’s a lot of interest,” Sankey said. “People change, positions change … understanding the selection committee’s perspective and how the criteria is applied is an important element.”

As expected, Wednesday’s meeting also included discussions about the House vs. NCAA settlement and future NCAA governance. Attorneys for both leagues were present to avoid anything that might be construed as collusion. Petitti said that while the Big Ten and SEC are leading the future format decisions of the CFP, the NCAA governance conversations have been “incredibly collaborative and involves everybody.”

“People are working together,” Petitti said. “… The work that’s been down around the settlement among the conferences is probably unprecedented in terms of the amount of collaboration that’s required to get this right.”

As far as the CFP conversations, Sankey said the Big Ten and SEC have “deployed leadership in a responsible way.”

“Moving forward, Tony described a methodology that was agreed to by everyone a year ago for how decisions will be made by everyone — not dictated by us — agreed to by everyone,” he said. “We have a responsibility to use that wisely.”

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Islanders waive D Cholowski to open roster spot

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Islanders waive D Cholowski to open roster spot

The New York Islanders placed defenseman Dennis Cholowski on waivers on Thursday.

The Islanders have one open roster spot coming out of the break but might need two as they anticipate the return of defensemen Scott Mayfield (lower body) and Ryan Pulock (upper body) from injured reserve. Both participated in their third straight practice on Thursday ahead of the Islanders’ next game Sunday against the Dallas Stars.

Cholowski, who turned 27 on Saturday, has three goals, seven assists, 10 penalty minutes and an average of 12:48 time on ice in 33 games this season.

The Detroit Red Wings selected him with the 20th overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft. He was picked by the Seattle Kraken from the Red Wings’ roster in the 2021 expansion draft.

He has 13 career goals, 27 assists, 38 penalty minutes, 147 blocks and 48 hits while averaging 16:47 of ice time in 150 games for the Red Wings (2018-21), Washington Capitals (2021-22), Kraken (2022) and Islanders (2022-23, 2024-25).

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4 Nations revitalizes hockey betting ahead of final

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4 Nations revitalizes hockey betting ahead of final

In lieu of traditional All-Star festivities, the NHL opted to put on an international best-on-best tournament this season. The resulting 4 Nations Face-Off has been a resounding success, attracting massive viewership and surprising cultural relevance, which has extended to the sports betting realm.

Sportsbooks across the United States report that the 4 Nations games thus far have outperformed average regular-season NHL contests. DraftKings says that its four most-bet hockey games of the season have been from the tournament, while FanDuel says that 4 Nations contests are averaging over six times as many bets as an average NHL game this regular season.

In particular, Saturday’s first USA-Canada matchup — an epic 3-1 victory for the Americans — was, bar none, the most-bet hockey game of the season. FanDuel says that the contest saw 13 times more bets than all of the 3-on-3 games that made up last year’s NHL All-Star event combined, and 11 times more bets than an average NHL game this regular season.

Caesars Sportsbook’s head of hockey Karry Shreeve says that the book is handling “seven to 10 times” more money for each game, with the first North American rivalry showdown bringing in even more.

“That game we saw just as much handle as we would in a Stanley Cup game,” Shreeve told ESPN. “I think there’s a chance that for Thursday’s final, we could get up to almost Game 7 numbers, which is just incredible in terms of what you’re asking for in the middle of February for hockey. I mean this is completely unexpected and certainly unprecedented.”

While the storied USA-Canada rivalry always raises the stakes, this year’s iteration seems particularly heated given the long layoff of best-on-best action, “words that have been exchanged” between both teams, as well as “politically” motivated sentiments off the ice, per DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello.

“I think that all throws a little fire into it,” Avello told ESPN. “This is something that the fans love and these games are being bet heavily. This game Thursday is going to be a monster as far as betting is concerned, would outdo any All-Star Game.”

With the elevated bettor attention and subsequent higher handle, bookmakers are putting their most diligent work into setting the lines for Thursday night’s championship.

“The 4 Nations has been great from a betting engagement standpoint, particularly as fans look for marquee events coming out of football season,” ESPN BET director of North American trading Adrian Horton said via email. “Thursday night feels like a Stanley Cup Final game from a trading perspective.”

That means the books are expecting a low total. Shreeve points out that, during last year’s playoffs, Game 7s were seeing only “three or four goals,” as teams tend to tighten up when the stakes are highest. As such, Thursday’s over-under has sat at a consensus 5.5 for much of the week and has only juiced further to the under (-135 at ESPN BET); BetMGM reports 30% of bets on the under, but 39% of the money.

Additionally, the money line has stayed remarkably close all week, with ESPN BET keeping the game a pick ’em at -110 for each side. USA is getting a majority of the action at major American sportsbooks, leading BetMGM trading manager Christian Cipollini to say, “Canada winning would be a good outcome for the sportsbook.”

That said, there has been perhaps more support than expected for Canada: ESPN BET reports 46.1% of bets and 46.5% of handle backing the Canadians and BetMGM reports a 5% positive money split on their side. That tension, just as it should be felt on the ice in Boston, is keeping this betting line feeling truly championship-caliber.

“This almost has a Game 7 feel to it, which is absolutely incredible, and so we’re going to treat it as such,” Shreeve said.

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Trump calls Team USA ahead of 4 Nations final

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Trump calls Team USA ahead of 4 Nations final

BOSTON — Other than the game itself, both Canada and the United States were talking about President Donald Trump hours before playing one another in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off championship game.

Trump was a topic of conversation for both teams Thursday with many Team USA players speaking about the call they shared with the president with Team Canada sharing some of its thoughts about Trump once again stating that Canada would become the “51st state” in the country.

“It was awesome. It was one of the cooler experiences I’ve had,” Team USA’s Vincent Trocheck said of the Trump phone call. “Having the president of the United States call your team about a hockey game just seems kind of crazy but it’s pretty cool.”

Team USA and New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller echoed a similar sentiment.

“Pretty cool. It was so awesome to hear the support,” Miller said. “It’s a pretty big deal for us to take time out of his schedule to talk to us. It’s just another one of those things where we’re pinching ourselves this tournament. It’s been really fun so far to see the support from everybody up to the president is pretty wild.”

Miller said that Trump told the team to enjoy the moment and have fun with it with Team USA defenseman Zach Werenski saying he “kind of blacked out” because of the significance of the moment.

A reporter then asked Miller if Trump mentioned making Canada the 51st state.

“I don’t think he brought that up,” said Werenski, who plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets. “He left that one out.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Thursday that he planned on calling Team USA while later adding that “on toward victory tonight against Canada … will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important Fifty First State.”

With political tensions already in place prior to the 4 Nations, those feelings have only amplified with hockey as its latest avenue. It started with fans on both sides booing during each country’s respective national anthems.

It further escalated during the first Canada-U.S. game last Saturday. There were three fights in the first nine seconds of a contest which ultimately ended with the U.S. winning 3-1 in Montreal. The game itself became the talk of the North American sports landscape and only added to the anticipation of a potential rematch, something Canada secured Tuesday with a 5-3 win against Sweden.

Canada coach Jon Cooper was asked if the political discussion regarding the two countries has entered the dressing room.

“Other than the talk of [Canada becoming] the 51st state and then somebody saying, ‘Wow, we’d have one hell of a hockey team,'” said Cooper, who is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Cooper then further elaborated on the subject.

“Let’s be honest, you’d never get what’s going to be contested tonight,” Cooper said. “The political side of things, we feel [that] for everybody on our side of things. But for us to come here and to be in that room, it’s going to be more for us to win that game, then sit there and debate what the game means. We have to go out there and represent our country and make them proud. If we accomplish that, then I think we accomplish what we want to, which is to make Canadians proud.”

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski contributed to this report.

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