Greg Sankey never got up at the podium and, with a straight face, claimed the Missouri Tigers, Vanderbilt Commodores, and Tennessee Volunteers can all make the College Football Playoff, giving the SEC a grand total of eight teams in the 12-team field. That would've made room for the Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, and the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion.
Sankey also never claimed the SEC "carved out" six to eight spots. That was the work of a Twitter troll.
The Auburn, New York, native is a shrewd negotiator. And more likely than not, the SEC will be the school that eventually comes close to six, seven, or eight teams in the College Football Playoff field. It's just not a legitimate discussion that's being held by the CFP selection committee right now.
Not this year. Missouri and Tennessee are out, and Vanderbilt has to run the table to make it. There are too many deserving teams based on how things look now, but there should be chaos down the stretch.
Maybe it's the Alabama Crimson Tide or Georgia Bulldogs who take too many losses and are out of the CFP, too. There's still plenty of football left to play in 2025. Maybe the SEC will have even fewer teams than originally thought, based on how the next three weeks of the regular season and championship week go.
Either way, rest easy, fans of SEC schools. Your commissioner didn't embarrass himself with one of the most delusional quotes of the year.
It certainly says something that so many thought Sankey's claim was real.