Miramar Beach, Florida – The commissioner of the southeast conference Greg Sankey does not always say what he thinks, but he rarely hides what he feels. On Monday afternoon, he launched the Spring Spring meetings here by launching a rocket of feelings to other commissioners and criticisms. Sankey clearly indicated that he had checked the Big 12 and the ACC, and also defensive to be described as an enemy of the greatest good in university football.
“I do not give others to others on the good of the game and I coordinate the press releases on the good of the game, okay,” said Sankey. “You can publish your press statement, but I am actually looking for ideas to move us forward.”
Let us strip the motivation behind this concise explosion.
Start with a certain context: the fight to shape the future of university sports is entering an even more acute phase. Legal forces in the form of a imminent regulation In the case House vs NCAA, reshuffled the industry economy. NCAA governance forces more separate the wealthy of the deprived. The rules are being rewritten, with waves hopes that they will be enforceable (not by the NCAA). And the fire crossed between the conferences has again warmed.
Enter Sankey, with a direct shot at the Commissioner Big 12 Brett Yormmark and the ACC committed Jim Phillips concerning their almost identical statements last week when the university football playoffs adopted a series model directly for 2025. If he had ranked above. Phillips and Yormmark joined the rest of the FBS commissioners, and Notre Dame, in a unanimous vote to change a problematic but advantageous rule.
If the right sowing had been in force last year, the dry and the big ten would each had two of the first four places and the occupations in the first round. Instead, they had each one. Thus, the ACC and Big 12 gave something that benefits the Big Ten and / or the dry.
“Today’s decision was made in the best interest in sport,” said Phillips on Thursday. “It doesn’t always benefit the AC, but it was the right decision and it is a responsibility that I take very seriously.”
“Today’s decision is perhaps not the best thing for Big 12, but it was the best thing for university football,” Yormark said the same day. “I hope what is best for university football continues to be the priority in all discussions in the future.”
Clark Williams of Big 12 Posted on Monday evening that the declarations have not been coordinated.
Intentually or not, these comments pointed a finger on Sankey and Commissioner Big Tony Petitti. They have teamed up with a play of power in the playoffs which is indeed – despite the protests of Sankey – not in the best interest of sport, bending their improved control over the way in which the playoffs of football take place.
The main bonding point is the push towards a certain number of automatic offers for each of the four power conferences which could be written in the rules of seven seasons, of 2026-2032. The plan that the two strong men prefer is a format at 16 teams which each requires four automatic offers for the big ten and dry, with two each for the Big 12 and the ACC. The best classified champion of non-power conferences would also get an automatic offer, with three selections in general.
And here is the botter of this overhaul of a system that has been allowed to play a great total of once: Big Ten and Have the power to make decisions concerning the future structure of the playoff seriesProvided that they have a “significant consultation” with other conferences and ESPN television partner. They can do what they want, more or less, and what they want to do is stack the game in their favor.
They don’t have to do so, of course. The two conferences already have more high -level programs than everyone, having combined to win the last six national championships (four per sec, two by the Big Ten). They will certainly certainly have at least four teams in each season in a 16 team playoffs. But they should always be won on the field, not pre-exclusive before a season.
The two leagues already have the most money, the wealthiest media offers, the most fans and the deepest tradition. They do not need additional advantages without winning them in the field. But these dry meetings this week could echo the Big Ten rally last week which produced the support of the so-called 4-4-2-2-1 model of the offers of qualifying series.
This is one of the reasons why Petitti and Sankey are considered an enemy of the majority of the 136 schools at the FBS level. Petitti, which has a network TV background, does not seem too concerned about this label. For Sankey, an administrator of the college who wrapped his sleeves and does the tedious and sometimes controversial work on a multitude of committees, which probably stings.
“I think I have the responsibility to push, and I think that my (dry) subscription has a responsibility and a desire to push me,” said Sankey on Monday. “And this is a difficult problem if you want to get into what is to sit in this role. I think of the responsibility I have here (at the League) and I think of the responsibility more broadly all the time.
“We will continue to try to provide a perspective and information to our members and help them guide the decision. And finally, I recognize that I am the one who usually ends up in front of a podium explaining not only myself but ourselves. So good luck to me. ”
But if criticism stings, it must also be said that sometimes the truth hurts.
The predatory movements of dry and big ten to add schools in recent years, destabilizing the Big 12 and killing the PAC-12, were good for these leagues but bad for the general well-being of university sports. And with these acquisitions, more money came and more power, and more opportunities to put pressure on the advantage.
Although it has the impression that Petitti and Sankey play cheeky with an invaluable Chinese vase, the opposite forces try to prevent them from breaking the thing. The American representative Brendan Boyle (D-P.) Social-media shot Through the arc after having heard some of Sankey’s positions on Monday: “Let me say that as clearly as possible: the Big Ten and the SEC should be very, very cautious to some of the decisions they are about to take. Because they seem to hell on the ruin of major university football. I think they need convention audiences in their collusion.”
Given the desperately university sports leaders who court the congress to obtain aid in the form of an antitrust exemption which would prevent an employed -employed relationship with athletes – which could bankrupt many programs – the threats of Capitol Hill should be taken seriously. The elders of ACC schools, Big 12, Notre Dame and other conferences are not difficult to find at the Congress, and they could mobilize against the axis of Big Ten-Sec.
But in the meantime, Petitti and Sankey continue to play Catch with the vase. Everyone cannot hold back their breath and hope that they do not drop him.