The plan remains for the SEC to do away with divisions in its next scheduling format. When that format is revealed, however, continues to be punted, as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Thursday any decision will come in early 2023, at the earliest.

Since this past summer, the conference has been down to two formats: An eight-game schedule with one permanent opponent and a nine-game schedule with three permanent opponents.

In each format there would be no divisions, and thus, each team would visit every other SEC team once every four years. But the conference hasn’t been able to finalize a decision because of several unknowns. One of them was checked off on Thursday: Expansion of the College Football Playoff will be happening in 2024. But Sankey indicated that at least one other unknown looms: Whether Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC in 2025 as announced, or arrive earlier.

“(The non-division model) is the focus upon expansion of the conference, not the expansion of the playoff,” Sankey said. “And our focus on expansion right now is that July 1, 2025 date that has been formally announced, and I’ve reiterated that with some frequency, noting that it could always change.”

The other major unknown may be whether the SEC can renegotiate its new broadcast contract with ESPN to account for a ninth SEC game. The contract was finalized prior to the announcement of Oklahoma and Texas joining the conference.

SEC teams are antsy to know what the new format will be, considering many already have four nonconference games scheduled for the 2024 season, and would have to cancel at least one. But the conference isn’t going to rush into a major decision in order to avoid minor hassles.