In a move that signaled progress toward an agreement on College Football Playoff expansion, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey laid out several issues his conference needs addressed before it could agree to a 24-team CFP, including a concept to standardize scheduling across the power conferences that has the Big Ten’s support.The College Football Playoff management committee, made up of 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, held a conference call earlier this week to continue expansion talks, and more calls are expected as soon as next week.According to multiple people with direct knowledge of the conversations, there has been enough movement in the talks and enough work done on how to transition from a 12-team Playoff to a 24-team event to increase the chances that the super-sized CFP could be implemented next season.The people spoke on condition of anonymity to The Athletic because internal CFP discussions have not been made public.The CFP faces a Dec. 1 deadline to inform ESPN of any format changes for the 2027 season. An expansion to 24 teams would require a renegotiation of the current deal with ESPN, which currently pays $1.3 billion annually for the rights to the 12-team Playoff. The network’s six-year contract, which starts this year, also includes the rights to any expansion of the field up to 14 teams.The CFP is contractually obligated to negotiate first with ESPN on the broadcast rights to an expanded postseason before taking it to the open market, and there is a growing feeling among people around the CFP talks that officials could open that 30-day negotiating window soon. Talks with ESPN would allow the conferences to put real numbers on the value of expansion while still not committing to expand.A 24-team CFP format proposed by the Big Ten last year has now become the preferred model for all but the SEC, which has backed expansion to 16 teams. The Big 12, ACC and Notre Dame have publicly thrown support behind the 24-team plan. Sankey has acted more cautiously even as some of his members have expressed their desire for CFP expansion well beyond 16 teams.The Big Ten and SEC hold the final say over the CFP model, and the two conferences have been at odds for over a year on what it should be.