SEC Commissioner blasted after conference’s disastrous day

Things did not go well for the SEC during the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. And if conference commissioner Greg Sankey wasn’t eating crow, he should have been.

Despite being higher seeds, Mississippi, South Carolina and Kentucky all lost their first-round games. The Bulldogs fell to Michigan State in the 8 vs. 9 matchup in the West Region, while the Gamecocks lost to Oregon in the Midwest Region’s 6 vs. 11 matchup. And as bad as that was, it got worse when the Wildcats took on Oakland in the South Region’s 3 vs. 14 game.

While it was a close game throughout, the No. 14 Golden Grizzlies outplayed the No. 3 Wildcats and came away with a tough 80-76 victory.

While the Mississippi State and South Carolina losses were upsets, the Bulldogs and Gamecocks at least lost to teams from other power conferences. Oakland, though, is not a power conference team. On its own, that’s not a big deal. The Golden Grizzlies played well and got one of the best shooting performances in NCAA Tournament history from Jack Gohlke. It’s unfortunate to be on the wrong end of it, but upsets like that happen every year.

That said, recent comments from Sankey make Kentucky’s loss stand out beyond just the typical March Madness upset.

Days before that game, Sankey said that “we are giving away highly competitive opportunities for automatic qualifiers” from smaller conferences.

And as one might expect, Sankey’s comments were roundly slammed after Kentucky’s loss.

Greg Sankey tried his damnedest to keep the Horizon League out of the NCAA Tournament, and now you know why.

— Jeff (BPredict) (@BPredict) March 22, 2024

Greg Sankey’s league about to go 0-for-3. They just need more “competitive opportunities in the top 50” I guess.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 22, 2024