Greg Sankey fires back at James Franklin, Big Ten: 'Greetings from That Other Conference'

Throughout this week at Big Ten Media Days, the SEC’s schedule was a topic of conversation as the league pushed for a 4-4-2-2-1 College Football Playoff format. When Penn State coach James Franklin discussed the SEC’s schedule and how it hosts its events, he referred to it as, “That other conference.”

Greg Sankey was apparently following along. He fired back with a different version of the SEC logo and offered his “Greetings from That Other conference.”

Sankey shared the post on X Thursday night as Big Ten Media Days came to an end. Franklin spoke Thursday and reiterated his call for not only every school to be in a conference, but also a standardized schedule in college football. Additionally, while pointing out his time at Vanderbilt, he praised the way the SEC hosted its media days and kept things “accessible.”

Greetings from That Other Conference pic.twitter.com/KFPzTRiMQY

— Greg Sankey (@GregSankey) July 25, 2025

Franklin specifically noted the difference between the Big Ten’s media days and the SEC’s, which sometimes sees fans attend seeking autographs. He also cited the need to connect with the fans considering a majority of the conference is in the Midwest.

As he weighed the Big Ten’s approach to media availability, Franklin further used the SEC as an example. When the conference hosts its annual spring meetings in Destin each year, Sankey and coaches hold media availabilities throughout the week. Sankey also does regular appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show. During its spring meetings this year in Los Angeles, the Big Ten didn’t hold such press sessions.

“I think that other conference, when they have their meetings, there’s essentially a press conference every single day at the end of the meetings,” Franklin said. “It keeps people talking about that conference at a time of the year and makes them relevant. We’re not doing that. We need to be talking about the Big Ten and our programs and the things that we have done, and making it as accessible to everybody as we possibly can and connecting with the fans.

“Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. I think Vegas is a special place and I think they run events as well as anybody. But it’s a different feeling. It’s a different feeling. And I’ve been at those other places where people are putting up babies for you to autograph. It’s different. I think there’s still some things that we’ve got to be strategic and smart about that are going to put our conference and our schools in the best position on a national level, in my opinion.”

Additionally, Franklin said he was in the room when the SEC considered going to nine games. He used that fact to further state his case for each league to play nine conference games.

“The thing that I struggle with is the same thing I’ve been talking about for a long time, and this doesn’t change,” Franklin said. “Everybody has to play the same number of conference games. Like, this ain’t that hard, right? Everybody should be playing eight or everybody should be playing nine. I was in that other conference when the whole discussion about going to nine games was voted on.

“Everybody should either play a conference championship game or everybody shouldn’t play conference championship. Everybody should be in a conference. I said that last year at a press conference before playing Notre Dame and everybody thought I was slighting Notre Dame. I’ve been saying that for 10 years. If I didn’t say it in that moment when I was asked the question, I’d be a hypocrite. Like, I’m gonna say it now because I’ve been saying it the whole time. And that’s not a knock. But you’re asking a group of people to get into a room and decide the best 12 or 16 teams in college football and you’re not comparing apples to apples.”