Talking season has reached the stretch run across major college football. Conference media days are complete, training camps are ramping up, and the first kickoff is one month away.
Which commissioners messaged most adeptly during their summer media festivities? Did anyone lose the narrative completely? Which conference kept the focus on football and not on the myriad off-field challenges facing the industry?
One league didn't participate. The rebuilt Pac-12 opted against hosting a media event, which some longtime observers found curious given the conference's status as a start-up.
Ultimately, it won't matter. If the Pac-12 thrives on the field, attention and eyeballs will follow. If not, the reconstructed entity will spend the fall in the sport's long shadows.
Its peers in the Group of Six fared reasonably well.
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Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez proactively and forcefully addressed the ongoing perception that her conference is one step from losing its anchor schools, UNLV and Air Force.
Meanwhile, American boss Tim Pernetti adeptly kept the focus on his league's on-field success and relevance within the Football Bowl Subdivision food chain.
Our focus here, however, is the Power Four.
The following assessments are based primarily on the words uttered and vibes generated by the commissioners during their state-of-the-conference remarks and subsequent Q&A sessions with assembled reporters.
(Listed in chronological order of media days throughout July.)
Big 12
No conference has messaged better than the Big 12 in recent years, especially relative to the (modest) brand strength of its membership. But we thought the conference missed the mark on two fronts during its July 7-8 event in Frisco, Texas.
First, the grand reveal of Monster Energy's jersey patch sponsorship generated more criticism than praise due to the underwhelming valuation of $20 million annually (or $1.25 million per school).
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark speaks to reporters during Big 12 Conference Football Media Days at The Star on July 7, 2026, in Frisco, TX.
Also, commissioner Brett Yormark took a surprisingly rigid approach to the question everyone knew was coming: his relationship with Texas Tech in the wake of the Brendan Sorsby affair.
If ongoing litigation was the reason for Yormark's refusal to answer questions, he should have stated as much. Instead, his response -- "Today is not the time to address that issue" -- became a story, as did his ensuing exchange with a media member.
Add that to the suboptimal reaction to the Monster deal and Big 12 football (e.g., the players, coaches and teams) didn't receive the intended attention. It was a rare messaging miss for the conference.
Grade: C+
ACC
Jim Phillips ranks No. 1 in the Hotline's CAR rankings -- that's Commissioner Above Replacement, our version of the popular baseball metric WAR (wins above replacement).
Given the barrage of challenges in recent years, both internal and external, Phillips has done a marvelous job not only keeping the league intact but also creating the framework for on-field success.
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips speaks to the media during ACC Media Days at Hilton Charlotte Uptown on July 15, 2026, in Charlotte, NC.
Granted, he keeps a lower public profile than Yormark and the SEC's Greg Sankey, and the ACC doesn't possess the array of football blue bloods to match the SEC and Big Ten. But those factors don't detract from Phillips' superb work.
(Place the average FBS commissioner in the same situation, and the outcome likely would have been far worse. Heck, we're not even sure Sankey, Yormark or the Big Ten's Tony Petitti could have navigated the ACC's roiling waters as deftly as Phillips.)
As a result, Phillips was able to preside over a thoroughly successful media event July 15-17 in Charlotte.
His turn at the podium was insightful, conversational and, critically, glitch-free. He addressed the hot-button topics facing the industry — "Self-governance to me means no governance" — but did nothing to steer the spotlight away from the teams.
Grade: A
SEC
The sport's premier traveling circus unfolded in usual fashion from July 20-23, only with a new location (Tampa). And for those unfamiliar, the standard fare includes Sankey's lengthy opening address and in-depth media Q&A.
Critics contend that Sankey enjoys the spotlight a tad too much. We say: So what? The industry is highly fluid, and public accountability from key executives is both welcomed and vital.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott on July 20, 2026, in Tampa, FL.
Sankey spent significant time last week on matters related to the future of college sports. His comments about frustrated SEC administrators examining a self-governing model (if the lawless landscape cannot be corralled) overshadowed all else.
"They have opined about the frustrations that bring them to the point of saying we should look at something significantly different," Sankey said.
And with that, warning lights flashed on every campus in major college football.
The duration of the four-day event went smoothly for the SEC. Coaches were not immaculately behaved, which is a good thing: Proper behavior is boring, and SEC media days aren't supposed to be boring.
But we wonder if, given a second chance, Sankey might scale back the tone of his comments about self-governance to ensure the spotlight remained on his teams.
Grade: B+
Big Ten
While presiding over a stellar run on the field (and court) for the Big Ten, Petitti has largely kept the lowest possible profile. He does not like media gatherings, which is unfortunate ... because he's good at them.
His 45-minute turn on the stage Tuesday in Chicago offered ample evidence: Despite the Big Ten's role as disruptive behemoth (e.g., its controversial 24-team playoff proposal), Petitti struck a collaborative tone when discussing weighty issues and offered measured, insightful comments.
Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti speaks during Media Days at Hilton Chicago on July 28, 2026, in Chicago.
Whether premeditated or instinctive, he responded to questions about self-governance (for the SEC and Big Ten) by outlining the crucial distinction between conference-specific rules and a clean competitive break.
“‘Breakaway’ is a word that creates a lot of emotion," he said. "I’ve never heard that anybody doesn’t want to play anybody else. We want to schedule more good games. We’ve just got to get to a system that allows us to do that.”
Of course, Petitti held court next to the Big Ten's back-to-back-to-back CFP championship trophies. And he made sure to mention the conference's three-sport sweep in 2025-26 (football and men's and women's basketball) early in his remarks.
Beyond Petitti, the Big Ten's three-day event was free of conflict or controversy. Even USC coach Lincoln Riley avoided making unwanted headlines.
Grade: A
