SEC commissioner Greg Sankey at the conference's "Vegas Kickoff" in 2024. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey at the conference’s “Vegas Kickoff” in 2024. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports.)
CBSCollege BasketballBy Arthur Weinstein on

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey fired off an hilarious post on X Wednesday, showcasing his conference’s dominance this season and refuting a prominent critic.

Unfortunately, ESPN’s Karl Ravech caught a stray in the aftermath.

First, a flashback to Tuesday. Analytics guru Ken Pomeroy posted a story on his Substack entitled, “Why hasn’t anyone said ‘the SEC is overrated'”? Pomeroy never said the SEC is overrated in his story; he merely wondered why people aren’t asking that question.

Yet that headline was enough to catch the attention of Kanell, who has a long history of anti-SEC sentiment. He reposted Pomeroy’s story, saying, “The smartest man in basketball is saying out loud what I have been thinking for the past 3 months…thank you @kenpomeroy.”


Sankey spied Kanell’s post and responded with some impressive numbers.

That little note at the end, “I confess SEC teams have a .500 record in games after 1/4/25,” is a snide reference to a comment by ESPN announcer Karl Ravech. During a game in early February, the broadcaster noted that, “Since January 4, into Tuesday, the SEC teams are 82-82…there’s no dominant group of teams.” (Obviously, every conference, every year, is going to have a .500 record in conference play.)

Ravech caught some grief for the remark, but claimed it had been a “tongue-in-cheek” comment.

Anyway, Ravech was certainly not the target here. Sankey had Kanell in his sights. The CBS college football analyst and SiriusXM host probably didn’t expect to find himself in a basketball-related spat with the SEC commissioner as the NCAA Tournament looms, but here we are.

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.

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