Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
It’s no secret that the SEC holds most of the cards when it comes to any efforts targeting the structure of the College Football Playoff. It’s also no secret that the ACC and Big 12 have formed an alliance in an attempt to boost their leverage, and Greg Sankey was more than happy to call attention to that reality while addressing the most recent tweak.
A team hailing from the SEC hasn’t won the College Football Playoff since Georgia defended its crown in 2023, but most fans would still tell you the sport runs through the conference that’s responsible for the majority of the victories in that postseason tournament since it was introduced over a decade ago.
It’s very easy to get tired of the SEC’s superiority complex, but it’s hard to argue that the conference where “It Just Means More” hasn’t earned the right to brag based on the level of competition its members have to deal with on a yearly basis.
That status means the SEC has earned the right to essentially call the shots in regard to the evolution of the College Football Playoff. The Big Ten also has a fair amount of sway thanks to its success in recent years, and as things currently stand, those two conferences firmly exist on a higher tier than the ACC and Big 12.
Those last two members of the Power 4 are subsequently facing an uphill battle when it comes to throwing their weight around behind the scenes, and they’ve largely worked in tandem while attempting to gain an edge as far as the CFP is concerned.
The nature of that not-so-hidden alliance was evident in the wake of the recent decision to shift the CFP to a straight-seeding model last week (a tweak that theoretically benefits the SEC and Big Ten based on how things would have been structured last season).
After the change was announced, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips released strikingly similar statements, with the former saying “it was the best thing for college football” and the latter noting it “was done in the best interest of the sport” while acknowledging their conferences may not have reaped the benefits.
On Sunday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey fired a thinly veiled shot their way at a press conference where he fielded a question about balancing what’s best for his conference and college football in general while making it pretty clear he didn’t appreciate the implication he’s not alos pushing to make the sport better as a while.
Today was as pissed off as I’ve seen Greg Sankey in a public setting.
He understood the subtext of the “good of the game” question quite clearly, and he came back swinging. pic.twitter.com/IqNeghFAH5
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) May 27, 2025
Here’s what he had to say:
“I don’t need lectures from others about the good of the game. I don’t lecture others about good of the game and coordinating press releases about good of the game, okay. You can issue your press statement, but I’m actually looking for ideas to move us forward…
[The SEC] didn’t need a 12-team College Football Playoff. [We] thought it was good for the game…I’m open to [College Football Playoff] ideas, there’s just not a lot incoming. My phone’s not running off the hook with, ‘Hey, here’s another way to look at it.’”
Sankey also acknowledged he and the SEC are “interested, not committed” to the idea of expanding the CFP to 16 teams—a move the ACC and Big 12 are likely a bit more enthusiastic about. However, they might need to tread a bit lightly to avoid further irking a man who knows he has plenty of influence to exert.