Greg Sankey fires back at Big Ten coaches' comments about SEC, College Football Playoff

Since the first College Football Playoff rankings came out last week, Big Ten coaches such as Curt Cignetti and Bret Bielema threw some shade at the SEC’s rankings. Monday afternoon, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey fired back. During his radio show last week, Cignetti said the SEC gets “a lot of love from ESPN” while discussing the first Top 25, which came out Tuesday. Then, on Friday, Bielema joked if Illinois was in the SEC, Illinois would be a Top-15 team after beating Nebraska to get to 6-3 on the year. $39.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage Speaking on The Paul Finebaum Show on Monday, Sankey said it should instead be settled on the football field. He noted one of those coaches canceled a series with an SEC school, alluding to Illinois taking Missouri off the schedule and adding a home-and-home with Notre Dame. As for the idea the SEC is “overrated,” he said to let the games speak for themselves. “One of those head coaches canceled a non-conference game with one of our teams,” Sankey said. “What I would say is, hey, we’re ready to schedule those non-conference games. If you’re concerned about us being overrated, 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 the microphone in a press conference and complain. Let’s find those opportunities because they’re there. Watch on Fubo (Try for Free) “Like I said, we just had one of those cancel. And I particularly like that coach. He coached in our league and will probably smile at some point. … But I would say, for those that are concerned we’re overrated, let’s go play games.” Greg Sankey: SEC excellence ‘plays out every week’ The Big Ten has had the upper hand the last three years, including both seasons in which the College Football Playoff had 12 teams. It has won three straight national titles, and the SEC has not brought home the trophy since Georgia in 2022. Greg Sankey noted that drought while evaluating the conference schedule, which went to nine games this year for the first time. But he made clear he doesn’t “lobby” for the SEC, though he sometimes restates what other people say about the league, but rather lets the CFP selection process play out. “I don’t know where that comes from, either,” Sankey said. “We all have a common process for recording information to the College Football Playoff selection committee. I don’t call, I don’t lobby, I’m not out there saying a lot directly. Every so often, I’ve had I think a little bit of fun or maybe I’ve restated what others have said about us. “I think the excellence in our football plays out every week. And one of the concerns, rightly so, is we put so much rigor on ourself. Does that negatively impact us in the postseason? We haven’t won the national championship in a couple years. We’ll see what happens this year.”