SEC's Greg Sankey blasts ACC, Big 12 for ‘coordinated press releases’

The head man in the SEC isn't pleased with what he sees from rival conferences as the future of college football hangs in the balance.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey speaks before spring football meetings, and directed his ire at the ACC and Big 12. | Brett Patzke/USA Today / USA TODAY NETWORK

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey doesn’t care to be lectured by the Big 12 and ACC about the good of college football, he revealed in pointed remarks that seemed to be directed at the rival conferences.

“I don’t need lectures from others about the good of the game. I don’t lecture others about the good of the game. Coordinated press releases about the good of the game,” Sankey said.

“You can issue your press statement,” he added. “But I’m actually looking for ideas to move us forward.”

SEC’s Greg Sankey, clearly taking a shot at Big 12 and ACC releasing statements last week after CFP straight-seeding announced

"I don’t lecture others about good of the game. Coordinated press releases about good of the game… I’m looking for ideas to move us forward."

👀 pic.twitter.com/Rz8mFV2B4k

— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) May 26, 2025

Sankey’s comments come against the backdrop of the College Football Playoff adopting a straight seeding model for the postseason starting in 2025, doing away with the distinction between seeding and rankings that aroused some confusion last year.

The commissioners of the ACC and Big 12 did mention how the decision to change how teams are seeded in the playoff was done “in the best interest of the sport.”

But they flatly denied issuing any coordinated press releases shortly after Sankey’s comments went viral.

“There was no press release from the Big 12, let alone a coordinated one with the ACC, regarding straight seeding,” Big 12 vice president of communications Clark Williams said in an X post.

But there is some distance between the SEC and those other conferences in the apparent effort to expand the College Football Playoff to 16 teams. 

That expansion centers around a plan to award four automatic qualifiers to the SEC and Big Ten each, while giving just two each to the Big 12 and ACC.

That has naturally aroused some accusations of unfairness from those two leagues, including from Miami head coach Mario Cristobal, who condemned the idea of awarding places based on conference membership rather than their being earned on the field.

Voices from other conferences may take issue with Sankey framing his intentions as working for the good of college football, given the outsized gain his conference would realize should the current plans for playoff expansion come to fruition.

But with the extra power his SEC and the Big Ten have been granted to reshape the College Football Playoff to their liking, there’s not much that can be done about it.

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