Greg Sankey: SEC is strongest, most competitive conference in college football 'by far'

When Indiana took down Miami in the national championship last year, it completed a run of three straight titles for the Big Ten. The SEC’s last title came in 2022 when Georgia went back-to-back.

Although the Big Ten has had the upper hand in recent years, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is still bullish on his conference. While looking at the league in its totality, he argued it’s the strongest and most complete one in college football “by far.”

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Sankey noted the “thin” margins in competitive games, citing examples such as Ohio State’s missed kick to send Georgia to the national title game in 2022 and Ole Miss’ final attempt at a walk-off touchdown against Miami in last year’s Fiesta Bowl. While there were also some blowouts along the way, Sankey said the SEC is still the best in college football from the top down.

“If you look at the entirety of our league, we are by far the most competitive, the strongest football league. By far,” Sankey said Wednesday at the SEC’s spring meetings. “But you’re going to lose games when it’s close and competitive like that.

“So why have they surpassed us? It’s an odd ball that’s bounced a couple times the wrong way. Indiana was pretty dominant in the Rose Bowl last year. A lot of other games, you look, pretty close margin. And we’ve been the beneficiary on those.”

Greg Sankey: SEC is ‘a pretty special place’

When the SEC comes out on top in those tight situations, Greg Sankey noted he doesn’t get that type of question. In fact, during the 2025 men’s basketball national championship, he expected to hear it when Florida trailed Houston by 14 points. Of course, the Gators went on to win. But Sankey recalled someone still asking him about his assessment of the season if UF lost.

During those high-level games, though, Sankey said there’s very little room for error. While the SEC has won those matchups in years past, the Big Ten has done so in football as of late. Still, he said the SEC remains in its own class with data to support it.

“In a competitive environment, the margins are going to be thin,” Sankey said. “We’ve come up on the short end. I can assure you everyone in this league is trying to figure out how to come up on the top end of that in the future. But I think, from a big-picture [perspective], the breadth, the depth of this league, this league stands alone. In fact, we saw metrics out of the College Football Playoff presentation where there’s no doubt we’re the strongest league.

“Now, there’s some segments of other leagues that are towards where we are, but not nearly the entirety of a conference like the Southeastern Conference. It’s a pretty special place.”