‘Unacceptable in My Mind’ — SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey ‘Highly Disappointed’ With ESPN Broadcasters’ Criticism of Refs

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has criticized television broadcasters for questioning the officiating during No. 8 Texas’ 34–20 victory over No. 19 Missouri, taking particular exception to commentators who revisited the disputed calls during Saturday night’s Florida–Oklahoma broadcast.

The controversy began after multiple replay decisions went against Missouri, drawing frustration from Tigers fans and criticism from the commentators.

Greg Sankey Fires Back at ESPN Broadcasters

One of the biggest talking points came in the third quarter when Arch Manning, who ranks 96th among QBs with a 72.8 PFN QB Impact Rating, lost the ball on a play that officials ruled a forward fumble rather than an incomplete pass. The decision went against Missouri, and Texas later tied the game at 20-20.

There was also debate over a potential intentional grounding penalty that was not called against Manning earlier in the game.

During the ESPN broadcast, broadcasters Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer said Missouri fans had every reason to be “livid” with the officiating. The discussion also continued during Saturday night’s Florida-Oklahoma game, with SEC Network commentators Aaron Murray and Matt Schumacker revisiting the controversial decisions.

Sankey was not pleased with the public criticism. He defended the SEC’s officiating crews and its replay center in Birmingham, Alabama, arguing that broadcasters should be more careful before questioning decisions they may not fully understand.

“I am highly disappointed in announcers and their criticism, and they’re wrong,” Sankey said on “The Paul Finebaum Show.”

“Some of the worst officials in America are those in the announce booth. We have officiating experts who I turned on a game on Saturday, who were just flat wrong. And what that creates is this narrative that we’ve done something wrong, and that is unacceptable to me, and we have to address that.”

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Sankey took particular issue with commentators bringing up controversial calls from earlier games while covering completely different matchups.

“We’re going to be wrong. We’ve made announcements where we own it. We’re going to have debates about judgment calls. But somebody on a Saturday night who’s announcing a game between Oklahoma and Florida, going back to something that happened at noon that he’s never called and asked a question about, and being critical is unacceptable in my mind,” he added.

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Missouri Pushes for More Transparency as SEC Reviews Options

The fallout extended beyond the media booth. Missouri Athletic Director Laird Veatch formally submitted a letter requesting an official SEC review of the game’s officiating. Veatch also urged the SEC to consider adopting open-replay audio models similar to those used by the ACC and Big Ten to foster greater public trust.

Addressing the call for institutional change, Sankey signaled a willingness to evaluate system upgrades while maintaining operational standards.

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“We’ll take the responsibility, we’ll take the heat, we’ll work to continually improve, we’ll work on ‘how do we provide more transparency and access to our replay system?’ We’ll do that collectively so that we have the best-in-class model,” Sankey said, noting that any future policy changes will depend on resolving key logistical challenges.

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.