Of all the changes that have afflicted college football in the 21st century—for good or for ill—the rise of the celebrity conference commissioner has to rank near the bottom.
There have been well-known conference commissioners in the past—SEC boss Roy Kramer won a degree of notoriety for masterminding the BCS, for instance—but the modern league leader has sought to achieve a kind of sports-tech-bro fame. On Saturday, then, Georgia coach Kirby Smart struck a blow for sanity by cutting SEC commissioner Greg Sankey down to size over the Bulldogs' arduous 2024 schedule.
After No. 5 Georgia topped No. 2 Texas 22–19 to win the conference title, ESPN's Laura Rutledge asked what the Bulldogs' presumptive bye meant to them.
"It means rest for a team that Greg Sankey and his staff sent on the road all year long!" Smart exclaimed.
This is incredible.
— Adam Spencer (@AdamSpencer4) December 8, 2024
As Kirby absolutely rips Greg Sankey for Georgia’s schedule, the cameraman pans over to Sankey’s priceless reaction 😂
Give that cameraman the Emmy pic.twitter.com/FA9ihBezDv
Petty? Yes. Water under the bridge, given Georgia ultimately overcame road losses to Ole Miss and Alabama? Also yes.
However, given the quasi-anticompetitive posturing of Sankey and his peers, hearing Smart give him the business over a complaint coaches have had since 1869 almost scanned as a breath of fresh air.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kirby Smart Needles Greg Sankey Over Georgia's Schedule While Celebrating SEC Title.
