Greg Sankey reacts to 'villain' label placed on SEC, Big Ten leadership

The Big Ten and SEC have become strange bedfellows during the ongoing negotiations around the future of the College Football Playoff, partnering together in an effort to make sure their respective conferences receive the most advantageous conditions possible.

Most recently, that involved a joint proposal by the Big Ten and SEC advocating that their two conferences receive four automatic qualifying bids in the next iteration of the Playoff, with the ACC and Big 12 receiving two AQ bids apiece and the remaining bids going to Notre Dame and/or the highest-ranked Group of Five program depending on whether the CFP expands to 14 or 16 teams.

Suffice it to say, those outside the Big Ten and SEC footprint aren’t particularly in favor of such a proposal, with some opposing fans casting villainous aspersions on Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.

For his part, the SEC’s headman outright dismissed that “villain” narrative as a clear mischaracterization of their intentions during a recent Q&A with The Post and Courier.

“Tony and I’ve talked about that. First of all, I’m accountable for what I say. And my first response is, there are a lot of people who write about what they think I think. And they try to interpret what I say, but they’ve never called me and asked or had a conversation. That’s on them, not on me. And if it serves their purpose to paint someone as a villain, that’s a decision they made,” Sankey told The Post and Courier.

“I think I represent our conference well. I can go back though and point to things now and in the past where I do understand the big picture and I’m trying to balance the challenges that we have as a league, the challenges that we have at the highest competitive end, with the responsibility for leading in a significant role across college athletics. I hope others accept that responsibility.

“So I block out that noise. I think people who want to portray something, they make their own decisions,” Sankey continued. “Most of them haven’t called me directly. Some will listen to a radio interview and pull a piece rather than think about the developed thought that was presented, and that’s their choice. I’m humble in what I do, but I’m proud of the work that we do and the accomplishments we’ve achieved.”

Greg Sankey takes shot at ACC’s unequal revenue sharing model: ‘It just hasn’t worked well’

Greg Sankey has seen the ACC’s plan for an unequal revenue sharing model, and he’s not a fan. The SEC Commissioner isn’t planning on instituting a similar structure for his conference in the foreseeable future, as he believes it isn’t the best long-term strategy.

“There’s a history of unequal revenue sharing, and those conferences, it just hasn’t worked well for a long-term situation,” Sankey proclaimed, via Scott Hamilton of The Post and Courier. “In fact, the conferences that have chosen to do so have generally, either they don’t exist at a high level, or they’ve gone a different direction.

“I’m sure that what others have done will introduce the conversation. I would hope we’re careful and responsible in how we do that. They made the decision for their purposes. That doesn’t necessarily mean that fits our purposes or our values.”

The ACC came up with their new model in light of working towards a settlement with Florida State and Clemson. In the process, they’ve amended a number of issues, like the conference’s exit fee, and uneven revenue distribution between the ACC’s members.

It’s been confirmed that a new revenue distribution model based on a five-year rolling average of TV ratings will be put in place for the conference. A majority share – 60% – of the base media rights will be placed into a viewership pool to be distributed via a TV ratings-based model, the settlement terms said. It will take effect this coming year.

Clemson projected the “opportunity” for more than $120 million in new revenue over the next six years in its board meeting. It includes the “viewership pool,” as well as enhanced ACC “success initiatives.”

Evidently, Sankey doesn’t believe that’s a winning formula, and the SEC won’t be changing their model to fit the ACC’s anytime soon.

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this report.