SEC commissioner Greg Sankey didn’t want to spend his time talking about officiating mistakes. He wanted to talk about the people calling them out.
After the Week 10 matchup between Texas and Missouri turned into a major talking point because of an incomplete-pass-turned-fumble that kept a Longhorn possession alive late in the third quarter, the conversation around the game quickly moved away from Arch Manning’s big performance and even Steve Sarkisian’s “obtuse postgame comments.” Instead, the officiating took center stage.
Days later, Sankey pushed back hard on the criticism, especially from announcers in the broadcast booth. He called them “some of the worst officials in America.”
“We all want to attain perfection… our officiating program does really, really good work. Our officials do really, really good work,” Sankey said.
“I am highly disappointed in announcers and their criticism… we have officiating experts… who are just flat wrong. And what that creates is a narrative that we’ve done something wrong.
That is unacceptable to me.”
He doubled down on that point, saying, “Some of the worst 'officials' in America are those in the announce booth.”
“I am highly disappointed in the announcers.”
Sankey also acknowledged that perfection isn’t realistic and said the conference is discussing ways to open up its review process a little more. But he made clear that criticism from people who don’t fully understand the situation crosses a line.
“Somebody on a Saturday night, who’s announcing the game between Oklahoma and Florida, going back to something that happened at noon that he never called and asked a question about, and being critical, is unacceptable,” Sankey said. “We’ll take the responsibility… work to continually improve… [and] provide more transparency… so that we have the best-in-class model.”
LSU is next on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
In Other News...
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Notre Dame has already filled the opening by lining up Washington for a home-and-home series beginning in 2031, keeping the long-range slate moving even as the search for additional Autonomy 4 opponents continues. For a program that has to plan years ahead to maintain the kind of schedule it wants, the change is a reminder that even the biggest future games can disappear quickly when conference realignment and scheduling rules collide. [Read more 🡒]
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For Notre Dame, that kind of workload matters because it came in a game where the defense was dictating terms from start to finish. The Irish generated 32 total pressures on Miami quarterback Darian Mensah and kept him from finding much rhythm, with Viliamu-Asa emerging as part of the front-line answer in a role that could give this defense a different edge as the season moves on. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Just Got Dragged Into ESPNs Latest CFP Ranking Debate
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For Notre Dame fans, the part that stood out was how quickly the comparison game started. Critics of Smiths view pointed to Utah and Notre Dame in the same breath, using the Irish schedule as part of the argument over perceived bias in ESPNs coverage and ranking discourse. It is the kind of debate that never really goes away in November, especially when the rankings are still fluid and every talking point seems to come with an agenda attached. [Read more 🡒]