SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isn’t buying the idea that the College Football Playoff selection committee is tilting toward his league, and he made that clear by turning the criticism right back on the Big Ten.
Last week’s first CFP rankings had five SEC teams in the top 10 and eight in the top 15, which set off complaints from several Big Ten head coaches. Some pointed to the SEC’s media rights deal with ESPN, the same network that carries CFP games, as part of the reason they believe the league gets favorable treatment.
Sankey pushed back on The Paul Finebaum Show, saying the easiest way to settle the argument is on the field.
“We’re ready to schedule those non-conference games, if you’re concerned about us being overrated,” Sankey said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “There’s a full regular season.
We’re pretty flexible in how we approach non-conference games. We have those at the beginning of the season, at the end of the season.
Let’s go. Let’s not run to a microphone in a press conference and complain.
“Let’s find those opportunities because they’re there. And, like I said, we just had one of those cancelled.
And I particularly like that coach. He coached in our league, and we’ll probably smile at some point.”
That comment appeared to be aimed at Illinois coach Bret Bielema, after the Fighting Illini backed out of a home-and-home series with Missouri in 2027 and 2028 in favor of two games against Notre Dame. Sankey also took issue with the broader claim that the SEC somehow shapes the rankings behind the scenes.
“I don’t know where that comes from either. We all have a common process for reporting information to the College Football Playoff selection committee,” Sankey said.
“I don’t call. I don’t lobby.
I’m not out there saying a lot directly. Every so often I’ve I think a little bit of fun, or maybe I’ve restated what others have said about us.
I think the excellence of our football plays out every week.”
Bielema had already stirred the pot last week by saying Illinois would “probably be a top-15 team” if it played in the SEC. Illinois is unranked at 6-3.
The chorus of complaints didn’t stop there. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz joked about ESPN leaning hard into the CFP rankings reveal while giving less attention to the World Series, noting that Fox carries the World Series and Big Ten games.
“We’re not ESPN, so we probably won’t make the rankings,” Ferentz said before Iowa was placed at No. 19. “I haven’t gone that far, but anyway, I’m not too worried about it.”
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti also took a shot at the SEC, saying the conference benefits from the way ESPN covers it.
“SEC gets a lot of love from ESPN, you know, and all their writers that they don’t technically pay but march to their drum,” Cignetti said. “So that’s why you see all these SEC teams up there and some good two-loss teams from the Big Ten not quite as high.”
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