There are a pair of meetings scheduled in the coming week related to making the next step in the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams.

Multiple reports, from both CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated, paint an ominous picture of the future possibility of the expanded field.

Some of the ongoing issues to resolve are media rights, player safety, winterization of stadiums, academics and The Rose Bowl. There is a meeting scheduled for Sept. 28 in Chicago among the CFP Board of Managers.

Dennis Dodd of CBS reported that, “the differences are so vast among stakeholders at this point that the possibility of getting a unanimous vote from the board — consisting of university presidents and chancellors — next Tuesday seems like a longshot.”

It’s gotten to the point where even holding the meeting at all may prove a worthless endeavor.

Meanwhile, Ross Dellenger of SI, reported ahead of a Wednesday meeting in Dallas, which is to include the CFP management committee—the 10 FBS commissioners plus Notre Dame Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick—is scheduled to further explore the expansion issue.

The hope is that it can create enough progress to bring a proposed recommendation to a scheduled meeting in Chicago next Tuesday with the CFP board of managers, a group of school presidents and the ultimate decision-makers in the playoff hierarchy.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey offered candid remarks ahead of the meeting.

“We will discuss the things I’m reading about,” says Sankey, commissioner of the SEC. “I thought these things would be talked about in the room, but people have chosen to state their positions publicly. If everybody has to get everything on their Christmas list, we probably won’t come to a decision. It won’t be a happy Christmas morning. But if people are willing to compromise and engage in meaningful dialogue, which the format subcommittee certainly did, there’s an opportunity.”