ATLANTA—Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey and his Big Ten counterpart, Tony Petitti, stood together in a back room of State Farm Arena at halftime of the second game in the NCAA tournament South Region semifinals Friday night. They did not appear to be discussing further plans for worldwide domination. The friendly adversaries had their eyes on a TV screen showing a game from Indianapolis.
To that point, the SEC vs. Big Ten doubleheader was skewing in favor of Petitti. The No. 2 seed Michigan State Spartans had beaten the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels, and the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines were giving No. 1 Auburn Tigers all they could handle.
