Sankey: SEC being left out of CFP not ‘real world’
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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
ATLANTA — As No. 1 Georgia prepares to play No. 8 Alabama in Saturday’s SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said the thought of his league being left out of the four-team College Football Playoff isn’t the “real world.”
Some analysts have argued that if Alabama upsets Georgia on Saturday, both teams could be left out of the CFP, depending on what happens in other conference championship games.
Sankey, in an interview on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday, said a case could be made that both the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide deserve to be in the playoff.
“That’s not the real world of college football,” Sankey said. “Let’s go back to like ‘Sesame Street’ so we’re really basic — one of these things is not like the other, and that’s the Southeastern Conference.
“We have five of the top 15 [in the CFP rankings], so a third, and our teams are playing everyone in the conference. … The reality is there has been no one that’s experienced the success in the postseason in the College Football Playoff that we have. So when you put us up actually against the teams, rather than in the committee rooms, we stand alone. And we stand alone this year, regardless of today’s outcome.”
Two-time defending national champion Georgia, which has won 29 consecutive games, would undoubtedly secure a spot in the playoff and probably be the No. 1 seed for the second straight year if it beats the Crimson Tide. But if Alabama wins, the Bulldogs might drop out of the top four altogether, depending on what happens in Saturday’s other conference title games.
No. 3 Washington likely punched its playoff ticket by wrapping up a 13-0 season with a 34-31 victory against No. 5 Oregon in Friday night’s Pac-12 championship game.
No. 2 Michigan can also finish unbeaten by defeating No. 16 Iowa in Saturday night’s Big Ten championship game (8 p.m. ET, Fox). No. 4 Florida State would have an unblemished record as well by knocking off No. 14 Louisville in the ACC title game (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN App). The Seminoles are playing without injured star quarterback Jordan Travis and might not have backup Tate Rodemaker available because of a concussion.
No. 7 Texas, which upset Alabama 34-24 on the road Sept. 9, can make things even more interesting for the selection committee by beating No. 18 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 title game (Noon ET, ABC/ESPN App).
“The criteria is not to put the undefeated teams in the four-team playoff,” Sankey said. “If we did that, we would have FCS teams in the CFP. You have to look deeply, and I think the committee has to consider big-picture issues like the Texas and Alabama game. That was a huge night. Should that game be scheduled? Take that game off Alabama’s schedule and what does this look like right now? You have to reward people for winning those games, absolutely. You just can’t ultimately penalize them. It’s not a one-week analysis; it’s a full-season analysis.”
SEC teams have captured six of the nine CFP national championships since the four-team format was introduced in the 2014 season. Four other SEC teams lost in the CFP national championship.
“Let’s go back to the basics of what it is we’re supposed to do,” Sankey said. “Go back to those criteria, and go back and look [at the] big picture. Again, I would make the case that one of these conferences is not like the others, from the standpoint of competitiveness, intensity, level of football that’s played. That’s shown itself year over year over year. That’s not unique this year.”
Knight’s Choice has won the 2024 Melbourne Cup, defeating Warp Speed and Okita Soushi in a thrilling finish at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon.
The massive outsider saluted for Irish-born jockey Robbie Dolan, who claimed victory in what was his first ever ride in the “race that stops a nation”.
In what was a gripping 164th staging of Australia’s most-watched thoroughbred race, Knight’s Choice proved too strong in a sprint to the finish, pulling over the top of Okita Soushi and holding off Warp Speed by the barest of margins.
Trained by John Symons and Sheila Laxon on the Sunshine Coast, Knight’s Choice was well down the betting across all markets. It was Laxon’s second Melbourne Cup triumph after she trained Ethereal to victory 23 years ago.
“This is the pinnacle of all pinnacles, this is the Melbourne Cup,” Symons said.
Zardozi rounded out the first four.
As the field approached the final few hundred metres it appeared as though Jamie Kah, aboard Okita Soushi, would become just the second woman to ride the winner in the Melbourne Cup. But Okita Soushi was swallowed up as the winning post neared, with Knight’s Choice beating Warp Speed to the line after a peach of a ride from Dolan.
“We’ll be singing tonight after a few beers,” Dolan, who was a contestant on the 2022 edition of “The Voice”, told Channel 9.
“It is amazing and a lot of people doubted this little horse. Doubt me now.”
Laxon was more than happy with the ride, with Dolan threading his way through the field from near last on the bend.
“He started the race, and he knew how to ride him. We didn’t give him instructions, he knew what to do,” she said.
“I love it being down for the Australians. The Australian horse has done it, and Robbie is Australian now as well, so I’m thrilled to win the Cup, and it is the people’s Cup, and that’s what it is all about.”
Knight’s Choice is just the sixth Australian-bred horse to win since 1993, and the first since Vow and Declare back in 2019.
The five-year-old gelding carried only 51kg to victory and was making its first start over the 3200m trip. It had most recently come off a fifth-placed finish in the Bendigo Cup, but had showed sparing little form this preparation otherwise.
“I watched every Melbourne Cup for the last 40 years. I thought my best chance was to get him to stay the trip and, hopefully, he can run home and do the quick sectionals he can on a good track and he proved everybody wrong,” Dolan said.
MILWAUKEE — The Brewers‘ starting rotation could have a new look next season with right-handers Frankie Montas and Colin Rea heading into free agency.
The Brewers announced Monday that Montas had declined his part of a $20 million mutual option for 2025. The Brewers turned down the $5.5 million club option on Rea’s contract.
Montas receives a $2 million buyout and Rea gets a $1 million buyout.
In other moves Monday, right-hander Kevin Herget was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets, and left-hander Rob Zastryzny was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs. First baseman Jake Bauers and right-hander Bryse Wilson cleared waivers and were sent outright to Triple-A Nashville.
Montas, 31, had a combined 7-11 record with a 4.84 ERA and 148 strikeouts over 150⅔ innings in 30 starts for the Cincinnati Reds and Brewers this season. He was 3-3 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts for the Brewers, who acquired him just before the trade deadline.
Rea, 34, was 12-6 with a 4.28 ERA this season in 32 appearances, including 27 starts. He struck out 135 in 167⅔ innings. Rea had an 8.31 ERA in September and was left off the Brewers’ NL Wild Card Series roster.
Herget, 33, had no record with one save and a 1.59 ERA in seven appearances with Milwaukee this year. He was 5-1 with four saves and a 2.27 ERA in 38 relief outings with Triple-A Nashville.
Zastryzny, 32, was 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in nine appearances with Milwaukee. He pitched in 30 games with Nashville and went 4-0 with a 3.03 ERA.
The 29-year-old Bauers batted .199 with a .301 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 43 RBIs in 116 games this season. He also hit a seventh-inning homer that broke a scoreless tie in the decisive Game 3 of the Wild Card Series with the Mets, who rallied in the ninth to win 4-2.
Wilson, who turns 27 on Dec. 20, went 5-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 34 appearances, including nine starts.
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