Welcome back. The pundits are out, like cockroaches in the night, opining about what the SEC did yesterday. And speaking of punditry, who better to bring in than Michael Bratton from that SEC podcast.

Michael is always a real place, right? I love these sessions with you. I just kick my feet up and grab some popcorn and let you have at it. So first of all, before I even ask you the prosaic, what did you think? What do you make out of all the punditry? You're a pundit in some respects. But there's a group of people that look like they just got out of we just found them in a cave somewhere and they discovered that World War II was over. I mean, the shots of being

fired at Greg Sankey in the SEC. What about you? Yeah, I don't know if you were exactly talking about me, Paul, when you said cockroach in the middle of the night, but that's one of the nicest things you ever said about me, but I'm joining the group, Paul. I mean, I'm not trying to overreact to this eight game SEC schedule, but if they do not give us the matchups we want to see, and I'm specifically talking the likes of Texas for Texas A&M, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn. I think fans have been

going through every right to be upset, not just the pundits, Paul, and I'll read you a quote from Commissioner Sankey at the start of the spring meetings here. A league at the forefront of college athletics does not stand still. This is a league at the forefront of college athletics. Well, they're not acting like it, Paul, they're truly not with this eight game league schedule in 2024. And again, I'm trying not to overreact, but I think this is a black guy on the league. I really do. And to sit here and say, well, we got to see how this playoff committee is going

to shake out and how are they going to evaluate the 12 teams? Well, Paul, as long as I've been following college football, these things are done by a strength of schedule. And the SEC, their strength of schedule is not going to stack up to many of these other leagues if they continue to stay at eight. So I just don't understand it when you're adding Texas and Oklahoma and not expanding how many games, conference games we're going to be playing. I think it's a huge mistake.

Do we still have Michael? Do we lose contact? I thought when he said, black guy, the SEC, we lost, we lost our Wi-Fi connection with his situation. Michael, I love people to give honest takes. And you certainly do. The one thing I'm curious about. And I think on the afternoon of the 15th, if we're all disappointed, I think, I hope you'll back. You'll be back. And you, you will have been right. I hit, I have an invert and invert.

In theory, I think they already know the schedule because they've been working on it for for two years. I mean, there's there should be no mystery about what we are going to see now. That was more with a nine game schedule. But I, I'm going to give Greg Sankey and his group the benefit of the doubt. I think they are really smart people and if they don't give us what you said, they know the walls are going to come tumbling down.

So I don't want to say, hey, wait and see, I hate that phrase. It's cliche. But I'm betting on them, getting it right.

Yeah, and I'm right there with you, Paul. And that's why I'm not overreacting today. But like you said, I'll go nuclear June 15th. If the 14th, I'm looking forward to this schedule release. They should have been doing this years ago.

Many people myself included have been calling for it. So credit to your employer. But Paul, I know you're in an awkward spot. So I'll say it for you. I mean, it's laughable to me to say that money is not the ultimate driving force behind this. And I understand that. And I understand it from all sides. So I'm not necessarily calling anybody out here. But this is kind of the corner that the SEC has painted themselves into going all in with one network to where.

The ESPN's got the contracts. Why should they give more just because you added to the top 10 programs in the country, arguably, and better matchups.

It's a difficult spot, Paul. And I think fans are the ones potentially that are going to be hurt because I think what's going to happen. I think if the SEC will get the money they want from ESPN. But ESPN's not going to just give it to them. They're going to ask for things. And that's potentially going to be Thursday night games. Paul fans are not going to be happy with that.

Friday night games. God forbid. Let's hope we don't go down that road. But I almost can guarantee you, Paul, that there will be conference games on ESPN.

Plus to get people to sign up for that. It's a fine product, Paul. But we're used to see an Alabama Austin P Ole Miss Ferman on ESPN. Plus. I think we're going to get conference games there if they want more money for this product. And again, I think it's the fans that suffer.

Listen, I'm a host. I mean, everybody knows where the company I work for. And I will tell you, Michael, if I had any earthly idea what they were thinking, because I genuinely believe they are a big part of this story.

And a lot of people won't say that, but I will. ESPN played a role in all this. They may not have played a role directly. But everybody knows what's going on here.

And I think the commissioners for nine games, you know that the only person I know that has gone nine to eight is Nick Sabin. I'm curious what you think of what he did.

Because he wasn't just a flag waiver. I remember the first time he brought it up. I think it was 2010 or 11. It may have been on our show. And he put that flag down. And he wanted to fight about it.

And now suddenly when he saw the schedule, Michael, he didn't like the fact that LSU and Tennessee were among his on his permanent rivals on his permanent rivals list.

Well, Paul, I mean, I hate to be that guy and say I told you so, but I've been saying it for about a year and a half. It looks to me like Nick Sabin is afraid of the competition.

He's running for the hills because Kirby Spartan Georgia taken over the SEC. And I think that's a short-sighted approach, Paul, because last time I checked Alabama plays LSU, Tennessee and Auburn every year.

And I realized we're getting away with the divisions. So maybe he was hoping to escape those top tier programs facing his Alabama, his decaying Alabama program, I should say.

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