SEC Media Days: 9-Game Schedule Impact, Officiating Transparency, and Technology Innovations with Commissioner Greg Sankey

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You are now listening to The War Rapport Podcast Network.

**Mike G** (1:47)
Our SEC Media Days coverage continues here at Auburn Express TV powered by The War Rapport. Joining me is the Commissioner of the SEC, Greg Sankey. Commissioner Sankey, we're here in Tampa. This was a great venue, by the way. I love this venue. I'm close to saying it's my favorite of the last five or six years, but they did a great job setting everything up here.
In your opening address, there were a lot of questions about the nine-game conference schedule.
I think there was an assumption by some of the coaches and the presidents that the playoff would expand if they went to nine games. The playoff hasn't expanded yet. Do you think, are your member institutions still happy with the change to a nine-game conference schedule in lieu of playoff expansion being where it's at?

**Greg Sankey** (2:40)
Well, as it relates to our decision-making, we were clear up front that decision about the college football playoff format was not going to be on the same calendar, the same timeline as our needs to make a decision about the football schedule. So we were transparent about that. There's a lot of background. Do I think people would like to play eight games? Sure, maybe six, right?
The scheduled decision for the Southeastern Conference was the right decision within the context of the SEC. It is the attachment to the college football playoff selection process that raises a concern. So we need to deal with that concern. And it may be that some of our thinking changes as the season goes on, depending on how selections play out.

**Mike G** (3:26)
I think that there are some very, very difficult schedules in the SEC this year. Even just looking at Auburn's schedule in October, they're on the road at Tennessee, at Georgia, home versus LSU, at Ole Miss. That's a tough stretch. Three of those teams have playoff expectations this year. And Auburn is going to try to survive October. But ESPN's FBI says that when you look at strength of schedule, there's not a team in the SEC that has a strength of schedule easier than 20th.
We feel like that is a result of moving to nine conference games when you have teams that are already highly regarded and then you add another game versus other highly regarded teams. It's going to make those schedules really, really tough. Does this benefit your conference or does this add maybe to the cannibalization of the conference in the middle? I know when we spoke a couple media days ago, you said, we're going to do whatever the data suggests is going to help us get the most teams in the playoffs here. Do you think it's going to help or hurt this year?

**Greg Sankey** (4:28)
That's to be determined. That's the selection process and how the season plays out. We have maintained a high quality non-conference opponent which means we've taken a game against perhaps an FCS team or a group of six team or replace that with a conference game.