Greg Sankey: SEC's 8-game schedule is tougher than anyone else's 9

Greg Sankey is a learned man. With a bachelor's degree from SUNY Cortland and a Master's from Syracuse, Sankey has continued learning in his journey from the director of intramural sports at Utica College to the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, and he showcases his erudite -- that's regular-speak for smart -- mind and his expansive -- big -- vocabulary each summer during his State of the Conference address to open SEC media days. He typically quotes Socrates or Henry David Thoreau or some other legendary thinker that you and I were assigned to read back in high school that we may or may not have actually read. He loves to refer to games by words beside "games," most often as "contests" or "opportunities." 

And on Monday, Sankey opened the week-long proceedings at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta by unveiling a new math formula. 

As far as the SEC is concerned: 8 > 9. 

"It is absolutely, fully, 100 percent correct that we play eight conference games while others play nine conference games. Never been a secret. It's also correct that last season all 16 members played at least nine games against what you would label 'power opponents.' We had several that played 10 against power opponents," Sankey said. "The same will be true this year."

Alabama, Florida and South Carolina will play 10 Power 4 opponents this year (eight conference games plus two non-conference) while Ole Miss is one of two P4 teams to play eight conference games and zero P4 non-con games. Everyone else is at nine. 

But on Monday, Sankey formally argued in the biggest forum he'll have all year that it shouldn't matter whether the SEC plays eight conference games and the Big Ten and Big 12 play nine, because their eight are tougher than everyone else's nine. 

"I don't believe there's anyone that's looking to swap their conference schedule, and its opponents, with the opponents played by Southeastern Conference teams in our conference schedule, be it eight or nine. I handed out a bunch of stats in Destin that showed there's a rigor here that is unique. In the SEC, we're not lacking for quality competition among our 16 football teams," he said.

At its spring meetings in May, the SEC distributed a packet that opened (emphasis added): "When looking at the metrics that factor in strength of schedule, the conclusion across all of them is clear: No other conference has a regular season as grueling as the SEC's."

Part of the reason why the Big Ten unveiled its wildly unpopular 4+4+2+2+1 model for the new College Football Playoff was its frustration over the SEC's refusal to go to nine league games. With eight fewer losses to distribute amongst itself, the Big Ten feared a more open format would give the SEC the inside track on gobbling up at-large bids. 

"We voted unanimously as Big Ten coaches to stay at nine league games and actually maybe have an SEC challenge," Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said last month. "I was told that they voted unanimously to stay at eight and not play the Big Ten. But then some people pop off and say what they want to say because they want to look a certain way. I get it, but like, I think until you get to nine for everybody, I don't think it could work."

To be sure, 8 v. 9 is an old, tired topic in SEC circles. I've been writing about this debate since 2014. 

Sankey himself is said to prefer nine SEC conference games to eight, and there's a lot more to it than trolling the B1G and Big 12. (The primary sticking point is whether ESPN is willing to pay extra for eight more SEC games as the all-in holder of SEC rights; the SEC is already out-performing its 10-year, $3 billion contract, so the conference would not add a ninth game for free.) Adjustments to the CFP selection protocol will also weigh heavily in the league's thinking. 

"We're going to continue to evaluate whether increasing the number of conference games is appropriate for us. As I've said repeatedly, understanding how the CFP will evaluate strength of schedule, and even strength of record, is critically important in our decision making," Sankey said.

In unveiling his SP+ strength of schedule rankings back in March, Bill Connelly had SEC teams playing 12 of the 13 most difficult schedules in college football. Oklahoma and Florida, Nos. 1 and 2 on the list, would have to play like top-5 teams to produce a 9-3 record against their respective slates, Connelly's numbers said. That is the crux of Sankey's argument on Monday. The SEC may eventually decide to play nine league games, or it may stay at eight. Hopefully that decision comes before 2037. But the decision is the SEC's, for reasons that matter internally.

When it comes to CFP at-large bids, Sankey argued from his bully pulpit in Atlanta that their eight is greater than anyone else's nine.