By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:
CAN THE GATORS PLAY GIANT-SLAYERS TWO STRAIGHT GAMES?
Arkansas comes to the O-Dome tonight (7 p.m., ESPN2), ranked 18th and feeling pretty good about itself. The Hogs are 21-6 and since starting out the SEC portion of their schedule 0-3, they’re 10-1 with impressive wins over then No. 12 LSU, then No. 1 Auburn and then No. 16 Tennessee. Arkansas has nothing to worry about on Selection Sunday. The Hogs are as good as in.
Florida (17-10, 7-7 SEC), on the other hand, helped its NCAA chances immensely by taking down then No. 2 Auburn at the O-Dome Saturday. Florida is a fragile team and a lot of things have to go right for the Gators to take down a highly ranked team, but when the stars and planets align as they did Saturday, they can beat anyone on the schedule. What the Gators have to do tonight is come in with the same focus and intensity they had Saturday. They have to understand that unless they make it two straight wins against ranked teams, the Auburn win will be looked at as a fluke.
SEC Basketball
Tuesday’s games: No. 18 Arkansas (21-6, 10-4 SEC) at FLORIDA (17-10, 7-7 SEC); No. 17 Tennessee (19-7, 10-4 SEC) at Missouri (10-17, 4-10 SEC); Georgia (6-21, 1-13 SEC) at Texas A&M (15-11, 5-9 SEC); No. 24 Alabama (17-10, 7-7 SEC) at Vanderbilt (14-12, 6-8 SEC)
Wednesday’s games: Mississippi State (16-11, 7-7 SEC) at South Carolina (16-10, 7-7 SEC); Ole Miss (13-14, 4-10 SEC) at No. 3 Auburn (24-3, 12-2 SEC); LSU (19-8, 7-7 SEC) at No. 6 Kentucky (22-5, 11-3 SEC)
Associated Press Top 25: 1. Gonzaga 23-2; 2. Arizona 24-2; 3. Auburn 24-3; 4. Purdue 24-4; 5. Kansas 22-4; 6. Kentucky 22-5; 7. Duke 23-4; 8. Villanova 21-6; 9. Texas Tech 21-6; 10. Baylor 22-5; 11. Providence 22-3; 12. UCLA 19-5; 13. Wisconsin 21-5; 14. Houston 22-4; 15. Illinois 19-7; 16. Southern Cal 23-4; 17. Tennessee 19-7; 18. Arkansas 21-6; 19. Murray State 26-2; 20. Texas 19-8; 21. UConn 19-7; 22. Ohio State 16-7; 23. Saint Mary’s 22-6; 24. Alabama 17-10; 25. Iowa 18-8
Coaches Top 25: 1. Gonzaga 23-2; 2. Arizona 24-2; 3. Kentucky 22-5; 4. Auburn 24-3; 5. Kansas 22-4; 6. Duke 23-4; Purdue 24-4; 8. Villanova 21-6; 9. Texas Tech 21-6; 10. Providence 22-3; 11. Baylor 22-5; 12. Wisconsin 21-5; 13. UCLA 19-5; 14. Illinois 19-7; 15. Houston 22-4; 16. Southern Cal 23-4; 17. Tennessee 19-7; 18. Arkansas 21-6; 19. Ohio State 16-7; 20. UConn 19-7; 21. Murray State 26-2; 22. Texas 19-8; 23. Saint Mary’s 22-6; 24. Michigan State 18-8; 25. Alabama 17-10
GATORS MOVE UP TO NO. 15 IN AP WOMEN’S HOOPS POLL
Despite Sunday’s loss to LSU, the Gators climbed to their highest ranking since 2016 when they held down the No. 16 ranking for one week. At 20-7, Kelly Rae Finley has the Gators at No. 15 in the latest AP poll and with a couple of wins this week, it’s possible UF could flirt with the top ten for the first time since 2009.
More importantly, with one more win not only will the Gators equal the school record for SEC wins in a season (11 in 2000-01) but could clinch no worse than a fourth place finish in league play, assuring UF of a double-bye at the SEC Tournament. The Gators play at Vanderbilt (12-16, 3-11 SEC) and home against Missouri (17-10, 6-8 SEC) Sunday to close out the regular season.
Associated Press Top 25: 1. South Carolina 25-1; 2. Stanford 23-3; 3. North Carolina State 25-3; 4. Louisville 23-3; 5. Baylor 21-5; 6. Michigan 21-4; 7. UConn 19-5; 8. LSU 23-4; 9. Iowa State 22-4; 10. Indiana 19-5; 11. Texas 19-6; 12. Arizona 19-5; 13. Maryland 20-7; 14. Notre Dame; 15. FLORIDA 20-7; 16. Tennessee 21-6; 17. Ohio State 20-5; 18. North Carolina 21-5; 19. BYU 23-2; 20. Oklahoma 20-6; 21. Iowa 17-7; 22. Georgia Tech 19-8; 23. Virginia Tech 20-7; 24. Florida Gulf Coast 24-2; 25. Georgia 18-8
SEC women’s basketball
Thursday’s games: NO. 15 FLORIDA (20-7, 10-4 SEC) at Vanderbilt (12-16, 3-11 SEC); Mississippi State (15-11, 6-8 SEC) at No. 16 Tennessee (21-6, 10-4 SEC); Alabama (14-11, 5-9 SEC) at No. 8 LSU (23-4, 11-3 SEC); No. 25 Georgia (18-8, 7-7 SEC) at Arkansas (16-10, 6-7 SEC); Kentucky (13-11, 6-8 SEC) at Missouri (17-10, 6-8 SEC); Ole Miss (20-6, 8-5 SEC) at Auburn (10-15, 2-12 SEC); No. 1 South Carolina (25-1, 13-1 SEC) at Texas A&M (14-12, 4-10 SEC)
BASEBALL: BARCO SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK; GATORS DROP TO NO. 15
Hunter Barco, who was Florida’s lone bright pitching spot in a weekend that saw the Gators drop two out of three to Liberty, is the SEC Pitcher of the Week. In the season opener against Liberty, Barco took a perfect game into the sixth inning. He gave up a hit in the sixth and finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts.
After a nice opening game, the Gators struggled both at the plate (18-97, .186 for the entire weekend) and on the mound as they lost two out of three. The Gators will try to get the bats untracked tonight in DeLand when they take on Stetson (2-1). Lefty Timmy Manning is expected to get the start for the Gators. The two teams will play in Gainesville Wednesday evening.
D1Baseball.com Top 25: 1. Texas 3-0; 2. Arkansas 2-1; 3. Ole Miss 3-0; 4. Oklahoma State 2-1; 5. Vanderbilt 1-2; 6. Stanford 2-1; 7. Mississippi State 1-2; 8. LSU 3-0; 9. North Carolina State 3-0; 10. Florida State 3-0; 11. Arizona 3-0; 12. Long Beach State 2-1; 13. Notre Dame 2-1; 14. Oregon State 4-0; 15. FLORIDA 1-2; 16. Georgia 3-0; 17. TCU 2-1; 18. Tennessee 3-0; 19. Georgia Tech 3-0; 20. Texas Tech 1-2; 21. Liberty 2-1; 22. Maryland 3-0; 23. Duke 2-1; 24. Miami 4-0; 25. East Carolina 0-3
Collegiate Baseball Top 30: 1. Texas 3-0; 2. LSU 3-0; 3. Oklahoma State 2-1; 4. Vanderbilt 1-2; 5. Stanford 2-1; 6. Notre Dame 2-1; 7. Georgia Tech 3-0; 8. Florida State 3-0; 9. Long Beach State 2-1; 10. Arizona 3-0; 11. Mississippi State 1-2; 12. Liberty 2-1; 13. FLORIDA 1-2; 14. TCU 2-1; 15. Louisiana Tech 3-0; 16. Texas Tech 1-2; 17. Georgia 3-0; 18. Tennessee 3-0; 19. Oregon State 4-0; 20. UC-Santa Barbara 2-1; 21. UCLA 2-1; 22. Ole Miss 3-0; 23. Arkansas 2-1; 24. Miami 4-0; 25. Virginia 3-0; 26. North Carolina 3-0; 27. North Carolina State 3-0; 28. Bryant 3-0; 29. San Diego 3-0; 30. West Virginia 3-0
SOFTBALL: KENDRA FALBY SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
On her second at bat Friday night against then No. 14 Duke, Florida freshman Kendra Falby wanted to make the Blue Devils pay for disrespecting her. Duke brought its centerfielder in to become a fifth infielder, then shifted its right fielder to center, leaving right field wide open.
“I thought to myself that if I get a middle-in pitch, I’m putting it in right field just to show them I can do more than just put the ball in the infield,” Falby said.
She got the middle-in pitch and drilled it all the way to the fence in right center field. She was already standing on third base by the time the ball got back to the infield.
A lifelong slapper, Falby is discovering she has more to her arsenal than just beating the ball in the ground and outrunning the throw to first. She’s still using her speed (10-10 on stolen bases so far), but she is hitting the ball to the gaps and through the infield when the situation calls for it. She slapped, she hit line drives, she hit for power and she ran last week, enough to be named SEC Freshman of the Week. Her week totals were 11-20 with four multi-hit games, two triples and 12 runs scored along with 6-6 in stolen bases.
The Gators travel to Jacksonville to play North Florida tonight.
D1Softball.com Top 25: 1. Oklahoma 10-0; 2. Alabama 9-0; 3. FLORIDA 10-0; 4. Florida State 10-0; 5. Washington 9-1; 6. UCLA 7-3; 8. Arkansas 7-3; 9. Duke 8-2; 10. Northwestern 7-2; 11. Oklahoma State 6-4; 12. Oregon 8-1; 13. Clemson 6-3; 14. Missouri 8-3; 15. Kentucky 9-1; 16. Arizona 7-2; 18. Louisiana 6-0; 19. Georgia 9-2; 20. Tennessee 6-3; 21. Auburn 9-1; 22. South Florida 6-2; 23. Arizona State 7-3; 24. BYU 8-1; 25. LSU 6-5
SEC FOOTBALL
Alabama: Asked at the Alabama Football Coaches Association meeting in Montgomery when he might retire, Nick Saban replied, “Retire from what? I’m gonna jump into an empty abyss, all right, of what am I going to do? Because the very challenges that I talk about and the things in our profession that concern me – for you and for me both, in your game and our game – that’s what keeps me going. That’s why I get up every day. That’s why I can’t sleep at night sometimes.”
Auburn: The new offensive coordinator is wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau, who spent four seasons prior to Auburn working for Bryan Harsin at Boise State.
Georgia: Offensive line coach Matt Luke is stepping down from coaching to spend more time with his family.
Kentucky: As expected offensive coordinator Liam Coen is leaving to become the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams.
Ole Miss: Jeremy Springer, who recently joined the staff from Marshall, is leaving for the Los Angeles Rams to coach special teams.
Tennessee: Wide receivers coach Kodi Burns is leaving to coach wide receivers for the New Orleans Saints.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: So the proposed College Football Playoff expansion is dead in the water, thanks to the “alliance” of the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12. No sweat for the SEC, which will continue to dominate the 4-team playoff and will continue to get richer. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is clearly annoyed that the proposed expansion has been torpedoed because of the inability of the “alliance” to get behind the 12-team plan, but all this really means is that the SEC has been given the green light to forge a new path. When the current 4-team playoff contract expires after the 2025 national championship, you can bet Sankey will already have a plan in place that may or may not include the “alliance.” One thing for certain, Sankey understands that there cannot be playoffs without the SEC. There can be playoffs without the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12. We’ve had playoffs that didn’t include teams from those leagues in the past and the playoffs went off without a glitch. It can happen again.
Since 2006 when Florida got the SEC on a roll with its 41-14 blasting of an Ohio State team that folks like Kirk Herbstreit were claiming was one of the great teams of all time – Honk if you’ve sacked Troy Smith! – the SEC has won all but four of the national championships. Whether it was the BCS or the 4-team playoff, the SEC has proven it is unquestionably college football’s strongest conference, which annoys the “alliance” commissioners to no end and is the reason they think they’re flexing their muscles by halting playoff expansion.
Sankey sees things differently and doesn’t necessarily see this ploy by the “alliance” as anything more than a mosquito bite on an elephant’s butt.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger over the weekend, Sankey said, “I’ve got five teams in eight years that have won championships – three different teams in the last three years, so we’re fine. Why would I call ‘failure’ about something that we are exceedingly good at achieving at a high level?”
Sankey also told Dellenger the SEC will now “rethink” playoff expansion. Rethink as in come up with a plan that doesn’t necessarily have to include the “alliance.” I keep thinking he might do something truly creative like put together a 12-team Southeastern Conference Invitational Tournament in 2026 that doesn’t rely on input from the Big Ten, ACC or Pac-12. It would be worth billions.
I bet the “alliance” would come begging for a slice of that pie.
A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:
CAN THE GATORS PLAY GIANT-SLAYERS TWO STRAIGHT GAMES?
Arkansas comes to the O-Dome tonight (7 p.m., ESPN2), ranked 18th and feeling pretty good about itself. The Hogs are 21-6 and since starting out the SEC portion of their schedule 0-3, they’re 10-1 with impressive wins over then No. 12 LSU, then No. 1 Auburn and then No. 16 Tennessee. Arkansas has nothing to worry about on Selection Sunday. The Hogs are as good as in.
Florida (17-10, 7-7 SEC), on the other hand, helped its NCAA chances immensely by taking down then No. 2 Auburn at the O-Dome Saturday. Florida is a fragile team and a lot of things have to go right for the Gators to take down a highly ranked team, but when the stars and planets align as they did Saturday, they can beat anyone on the schedule. What the Gators have to do tonight is come in with the same focus and intensity they had Saturday. They have to understand that unless they make it two straight wins against ranked teams, the Auburn win will be looked at as a fluke.
SEC Basketball
Tuesday’s games: No. 18 Arkansas (21-6, 10-4 SEC) at FLORIDA (17-10, 7-7 SEC); No. 17 Tennessee (19-7, 10-4 SEC) at Missouri (10-17, 4-10 SEC); Georgia (6-21, 1-13 SEC) at Texas A&M (15-11, 5-9 SEC); No. 24 Alabama (17-10, 7-7 SEC) at Vanderbilt (14-12, 6-8 SEC)
Wednesday’s games: Mississippi State (16-11, 7-7 SEC) at South Carolina (16-10, 7-7 SEC); Ole Miss (13-14, 4-10 SEC) at No. 3 Auburn (24-3, 12-2 SEC); LSU (19-8, 7-7 SEC) at No. 6 Kentucky (22-5, 11-3 SEC)
Associated Press Top 25: 1. Gonzaga 23-2; 2. Arizona 24-2; 3. Auburn 24-3; 4. Purdue 24-4; 5. Kansas 22-4; 6. Kentucky 22-5; 7. Duke 23-4; 8. Villanova 21-6; 9. Texas Tech 21-6; 10. Baylor 22-5; 11. Providence 22-3; 12. UCLA 19-5; 13. Wisconsin 21-5; 14. Houston 22-4; 15. Illinois 19-7; 16. Southern Cal 23-4; 17. Tennessee 19-7; 18. Arkansas 21-6; 19. Murray State 26-2; 20. Texas 19-8; 21. UConn 19-7; 22. Ohio State 16-7; 23. Saint Mary’s 22-6; 24. Alabama 17-10; 25. Iowa 18-8
Coaches Top 25: 1. Gonzaga 23-2; 2. Arizona 24-2; 3. Kentucky 22-5; 4. Auburn 24-3; 5. Kansas 22-4; 6. Duke 23-4; Purdue 24-4; 8. Villanova 21-6; 9. Texas Tech 21-6; 10. Providence 22-3; 11. Baylor 22-5; 12. Wisconsin 21-5; 13. UCLA 19-5; 14. Illinois 19-7; 15. Houston 22-4; 16. Southern Cal 23-4; 17. Tennessee 19-7; 18. Arkansas 21-6; 19. Ohio State 16-7; 20. UConn 19-7; 21. Murray State 26-2; 22. Texas 19-8; 23. Saint Mary’s 22-6; 24. Michigan State 18-8; 25. Alabama 17-10
GATORS MOVE UP TO NO. 15 IN AP WOMEN’S HOOPS POLL
Despite Sunday’s loss to LSU, the Gators climbed to their highest ranking since 2016 when they held down the No. 16 ranking for one week. At 20-7, Kelly Rae Finley has the Gators at No. 15 in the latest AP poll and with a couple of wins this week, it’s possible UF could flirt with the top ten for the first time since 2009.
More importantly, with one more win not only will the Gators equal the school record for SEC wins in a season (11 in 2000-01) but could clinch no worse than a fourth place finish in league play, assuring UF of a double-bye at the SEC Tournament. The Gators play at Vanderbilt (12-16, 3-11 SEC) and home against Missouri (17-10, 6-8 SEC) Sunday to close out the regular season.
Associated Press Top 25: 1. South Carolina 25-1; 2. Stanford 23-3; 3. North Carolina State 25-3; 4. Louisville 23-3; 5. Baylor 21-5; 6. Michigan 21-4; 7. UConn 19-5; 8. LSU 23-4; 9. Iowa State 22-4; 10. Indiana 19-5; 11. Texas 19-6; 12. Arizona 19-5; 13. Maryland 20-7; 14. Notre Dame; 15. FLORIDA 20-7; 16. Tennessee 21-6; 17. Ohio State 20-5; 18. North Carolina 21-5; 19. BYU 23-2; 20. Oklahoma 20-6; 21. Iowa 17-7; 22. Georgia Tech 19-8; 23. Virginia Tech 20-7; 24. Florida Gulf Coast 24-2; 25. Georgia 18-8
SEC women’s basketball
Thursday’s games: NO. 15 FLORIDA (20-7, 10-4 SEC) at Vanderbilt (12-16, 3-11 SEC); Mississippi State (15-11, 6-8 SEC) at No. 16 Tennessee (21-6, 10-4 SEC); Alabama (14-11, 5-9 SEC) at No. 8 LSU (23-4, 11-3 SEC); No. 25 Georgia (18-8, 7-7 SEC) at Arkansas (16-10, 6-7 SEC); Kentucky (13-11, 6-8 SEC) at Missouri (17-10, 6-8 SEC); Ole Miss (20-6, 8-5 SEC) at Auburn (10-15, 2-12 SEC); No. 1 South Carolina (25-1, 13-1 SEC) at Texas A&M (14-12, 4-10 SEC)
BASEBALL: BARCO SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK; GATORS DROP TO NO. 15
Hunter Barco, who was Florida’s lone bright pitching spot in a weekend that saw the Gators drop two out of three to Liberty, is the SEC Pitcher of the Week. In the season opener against Liberty, Barco took a perfect game into the sixth inning. He gave up a hit in the sixth and finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts.
After a nice opening game, the Gators struggled both at the plate (18-97, .186 for the entire weekend) and on the mound as they lost two out of three. The Gators will try to get the bats untracked tonight in DeLand when they take on Stetson (2-1). Lefty Timmy Manning is expected to get the start for the Gators. The two teams will play in Gainesville Wednesday evening.
D1Baseball.com Top 25: 1. Texas 3-0; 2. Arkansas 2-1; 3. Ole Miss 3-0; 4. Oklahoma State 2-1; 5. Vanderbilt 1-2; 6. Stanford 2-1; 7. Mississippi State 1-2; 8. LSU 3-0; 9. North Carolina State 3-0; 10. Florida State 3-0; 11. Arizona 3-0; 12. Long Beach State 2-1; 13. Notre Dame 2-1; 14. Oregon State 4-0; 15. FLORIDA 1-2; 16. Georgia 3-0; 17. TCU 2-1; 18. Tennessee 3-0; 19. Georgia Tech 3-0; 20. Texas Tech 1-2; 21. Liberty 2-1; 22. Maryland 3-0; 23. Duke 2-1; 24. Miami 4-0; 25. East Carolina 0-3
Collegiate Baseball Top 30: 1. Texas 3-0; 2. LSU 3-0; 3. Oklahoma State 2-1; 4. Vanderbilt 1-2; 5. Stanford 2-1; 6. Notre Dame 2-1; 7. Georgia Tech 3-0; 8. Florida State 3-0; 9. Long Beach State 2-1; 10. Arizona 3-0; 11. Mississippi State 1-2; 12. Liberty 2-1; 13. FLORIDA 1-2; 14. TCU 2-1; 15. Louisiana Tech 3-0; 16. Texas Tech 1-2; 17. Georgia 3-0; 18. Tennessee 3-0; 19. Oregon State 4-0; 20. UC-Santa Barbara 2-1; 21. UCLA 2-1; 22. Ole Miss 3-0; 23. Arkansas 2-1; 24. Miami 4-0; 25. Virginia 3-0; 26. North Carolina 3-0; 27. North Carolina State 3-0; 28. Bryant 3-0; 29. San Diego 3-0; 30. West Virginia 3-0
SOFTBALL: KENDRA FALBY SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
On her second at bat Friday night against then No. 14 Duke, Florida freshman Kendra Falby wanted to make the Blue Devils pay for disrespecting her. Duke brought its centerfielder in to become a fifth infielder, then shifted its right fielder to center, leaving right field wide open.
“I thought to myself that if I get a middle-in pitch, I’m putting it in right field just to show them I can do more than just put the ball in the infield,” Falby said.
She got the middle-in pitch and drilled it all the way to the fence in right center field. She was already standing on third base by the time the ball got back to the infield.
A lifelong slapper, Falby is discovering she has more to her arsenal than just beating the ball in the ground and outrunning the throw to first. She’s still using her speed (10-10 on stolen bases so far), but she is hitting the ball to the gaps and through the infield when the situation calls for it. She slapped, she hit line drives, she hit for power and she ran last week, enough to be named SEC Freshman of the Week. Her week totals were 11-20 with four multi-hit games, two triples and 12 runs scored along with 6-6 in stolen bases.
The Gators travel to Jacksonville to play North Florida tonight.
D1Softball.com Top 25: 1. Oklahoma 10-0; 2. Alabama 9-0; 3. FLORIDA 10-0; 4. Florida State 10-0; 5. Washington 9-1; 6. UCLA 7-3; 8. Arkansas 7-3; 9. Duke 8-2; 10. Northwestern 7-2; 11. Oklahoma State 6-4; 12. Oregon 8-1; 13. Clemson 6-3; 14. Missouri 8-3; 15. Kentucky 9-1; 16. Arizona 7-2; 18. Louisiana 6-0; 19. Georgia 9-2; 20. Tennessee 6-3; 21. Auburn 9-1; 22. South Florida 6-2; 23. Arizona State 7-3; 24. BYU 8-1; 25. LSU 6-5
SEC FOOTBALL
Alabama: Asked at the Alabama Football Coaches Association meeting in Montgomery when he might retire, Nick Saban replied, “Retire from what? I’m gonna jump into an empty abyss, all right, of what am I going to do? Because the very challenges that I talk about and the things in our profession that concern me – for you and for me both, in your game and our game – that’s what keeps me going. That’s why I get up every day. That’s why I can’t sleep at night sometimes.”
Auburn: The new offensive coordinator is wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau, who spent four seasons prior to Auburn working for Bryan Harsin at Boise State.
Georgia: Offensive line coach Matt Luke is stepping down from coaching to spend more time with his family.
Kentucky: As expected offensive coordinator Liam Coen is leaving to become the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams.
Ole Miss: Jeremy Springer, who recently joined the staff from Marshall, is leaving for the Los Angeles Rams to coach special teams.
Tennessee: Wide receivers coach Kodi Burns is leaving to coach wide receivers for the New Orleans Saints.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: So the proposed College Football Playoff expansion is dead in the water, thanks to the “alliance” of the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12. No sweat for the SEC, which will continue to dominate the 4-team playoff and will continue to get richer. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is clearly annoyed that the proposed expansion has been torpedoed because of the inability of the “alliance” to get behind the 12-team plan, but all this really means is that the SEC has been given the green light to forge a new path. When the current 4-team playoff contract expires after the 2025 national championship, you can bet Sankey will already have a plan in place that may or may not include the “alliance.” One thing for certain, Sankey understands that there cannot be playoffs without the SEC. There can be playoffs without the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12. We’ve had playoffs that didn’t include teams from those leagues in the past and the playoffs went off without a glitch. It can happen again.
Since 2006 when Florida got the SEC on a roll with its 41-14 blasting of an Ohio State team that folks like Kirk Herbstreit were claiming was one of the great teams of all time – Honk if you’ve sacked Troy Smith! – the SEC has won all but four of the national championships. Whether it was the BCS or the 4-team playoff, the SEC has proven it is unquestionably college football’s strongest conference, which annoys the “alliance” commissioners to no end and is the reason they think they’re flexing their muscles by halting playoff expansion.
Sankey sees things differently and doesn’t necessarily see this ploy by the “alliance” as anything more than a mosquito bite on an elephant’s butt.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger over the weekend, Sankey said, “I’ve got five teams in eight years that have won championships – three different teams in the last three years, so we’re fine. Why would I call ‘failure’ about something that we are exceedingly good at achieving at a high level?”
Sankey also told Dellenger the SEC will now “rethink” playoff expansion. Rethink as in come up with a plan that doesn’t necessarily have to include the “alliance.” I keep thinking he might do something truly creative like put together a 12-team Southeastern Conference Invitational Tournament in 2026 that doesn’t rely on input from the Big Ten, ACC or Pac-12. It would be worth billions.
I bet the “alliance” would come begging for a slice of that pie.
