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SEC media days are in full swing and have taken center stage as the season starts. The SEC is the center of the college football universe every season due to its fan bases, coaching talent, and talent across the conference. However, the biggest name in the room is Commissioner Greg Sankey, and he has been at the forefront of trying to figure out the new College Football Playoff setup.
SEC media veteran Paul Finebaum praised Greg Sankey during media days while slamming Big Ten Commissioner Tony Pettiti. His point was that the Big Ten and the SEC have all this power, and Sankey is talking to people, while Pettiti has been nonexistent in comparison.
Finebaum elaborated even more, saying, “Commissioner Tony Petitti of the Big Ten has been absent for most of the summer, while commissioner Sankey was down in Destin speaking to everybody.”
Paul Finebaum's point is that you even see Brett Yormark and Jim Phillips talking to people in the media, coaches, or administrators.
ESPN senior writer Dan Wetzel made the larger point earlier this summer that Tony Pettiti should have done more on Finebaum's show.
“No one knows what's going on,” Wetzel said. So I think when you're one of the two most powerful people and you're running a league that, more than anyone with their conference realignment, has destabilized the entire sport, by both going east and destabilizing the ACC and going west and eliminating the Pac-12, you should be talking to the media. You should be talking to the fans. It doesn't have to be media; you could get on there and communicate with the fans differently. I do think that's important.”
That sentiment has been echoing throughout college athletics. When talking specifically about the playoff format, Pettiti did not discuss it with his coaches; instead, he got brief feedback from the different administrators. Sankey has been discussing various ideas with his coaches and getting real-time feedback.
That is one reason there is so much uncertainty about the future of the College Football Playoff. The Big Ten wants a 4+4+2+2+1+3 format, while most other conferences want a 5+11 format. The SEC will decide on the format that gets approved, and based on feedback Sankey got from coaches, it will not be the Big Ten's preference.
Most fans are against guaranteed bids in the College Football Playoff, and if Pettiti talked to his coach, he would probably find that his coaches are against it, just like Sankey found out with the SEC.
