Greg Sankey: 'I didn't think I was insulting anyone' with comments about Georgia's 2023 CFP absence

During an appearance on 1010 XL radio at SEC Media Days, commissioner Greg Sankey made waves on social media for his comments about Georgia’s CFP absence a year ago. He pointed out the SEC didn’t “fly banners” or “stomp our feet” after the decision, which was interpreted as a shot at Florida State.

During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” Thursday afternoon, Sankey addressed the reaction that followed. He said he didn’t intend to call out a specific fan base.

Sankey said his point was the league spoke with Georgia and Alabama about what could happen on Selection Sunday. He also argued the focus shouldn’t be on that decision, but rather how a 12-team field would’ve looked last year – with perhaps even more SEC fire power after Ole Miss and Missouri’s strong seasons.

“I said something on a radio interview yesterday about CFP selection last year. I didn’t think I was insulting anyone, and the headline is I’ve apparently insulted another fan base in another conference,” Sankey said. “Because we had had conversations with Georgia and Alabama about, ‘Hey, we might not have a team in’ – despite what I said on Saturday about, ‘One of these things is not like the other,’ and being confident, which I think is my job as a representative. I think Georgia was one of the four best teams on paper. Now, there’s criteria, it didn’t play out that way. And I think Kirby [Smart’s] frustrated, I was frustrated. But that’s reality, and there are things we didn’t do.

“That’s about last year. If people want to be mad about last year still, that really leads in to next year, which is evidence for why we are moving into a 12-team Playoff. Because I would argue you take Ole Miss last year, take Missouri last year. Those teams could have put together a run towards a national championship in this new format. That should be the focus. But you say things and as you described from [Apple CEO] Tim [Cook’s] experience, it can be perceived and manipulated in a certain way.”

The 2024 season will be the first of the 12-team College Football Playoff, featuring the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams in the final Top 25 rankings. If that format was in place last year, all three teams – Florida State, Alabama and Georgia – would’ve made the cut.

After FSU missed out on last year’s CFP, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced an investigation into the committee, and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) sent a letter to the College Football Playoff to get more information. Former CFP executive director Bill Hancock responded, pointing out the tough decision the committee had.

In the process, though, Scott criticized Hancock for calling the ACC a “so-called Power Five conference” and suggested he meant the conference wasn’t a power league. However, Hancock clarified that remark, telling ESPN’s Andrea Adelson the CFP committee doesn’t use “Power Five,” “Autonomous Five” or Group of 5″ to describe conferences.