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Greg Sankey has seen so much football glory and championship hardware during his decade as SEC commissioner that it’s all probably a blur for him.
But right now, in 2025, it’s about the roundball and the hardwood. Because right now, his SEC basketball teams are setting the world on fire in college basketball and the NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday night, the SEC added yet another record to its historic season on the hardwood after Florida punched its ticket to the Final Four with a thrilling comeback victory over Texas Tech in San Francisco. The Gators won the West Region and will be heading to San Antonio for the Final Four. And that victory gave the SEC its 20th NCAA Tournament victory in 2025, which broke the all-time record that the ACC held with its 19 NCAA wins in 2016.
Amid yet another record — after the SEC got an all-time high 14 teams into the NCAA Tournament and an all-time best 7 teams into the Sweet 16 — Sankey took to social media to heap praise on the league he governs.
“Keep. Playing. Great. Basketball,” wrote Sankey on his social media account after UF’s epic win on Saturday night.
Judging by the way things have gone this season for the league in basketball, it probably won’t be the last time Sankey sends a message of praise on social media.
Now, it’s all about making sure the SEC finds a way to win it all and cut down the nets in San Antonio. In spite of all the records, it will be a bitter pill to swallow if the SEC somehow falls short of the ultimate goal.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
