Greg Sankey rarely misses an opportunity to rhetorically spike the football and that was again the case Tuesday.

Using his standard degree of subtlety, the SEC commissioner addressed the current state of collegiate athletics unrest in a three-segment appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show.

Amid the near-complete decimation of the Pac-12 Conference thanks to departures for the Big Ten and Big 12, Sankey said the SEC was happy with the 16-team format set to begin in 2024.

Sankey said the SEC was in “an enormously healthy place” that was “not in the middle of movement efforts.” The looming addition of Oklahoma and Texas is “the envy of everyone in college football,” Sankey continued on the Finebaum show that airs both on the radio and on cable TV’s SEC Network.

The presidents and chancellors of the SEC schools met last week during the conference musical chairs, the commissioner said.

“For me, today, speaking on their behalf, we have really strong alignment with that group,” Sankey said. “We’re very clear that there’s not something out there that we should be reaching for or engaging in our own level of recruitment.”

RELATED: An open letter to Sen. Tommy Tuberville on the conference unrest

He then commented on some of the upheaval in heavily implied language. He began by noting the criticism the SEC received for quietly adding Texas and Oklahoma in July 2021 — effectively kickstarting the domino effect that came to a crescendo over the weekend.

“I think the speculation or some of the pronouncements since that time about growth and directional growth has been problematic,” Sankey said. “Even for me in the security of the Southeastern Conference, whether it was Friday afternoon or through the day Saturday, fielding phone calls which were really more conversations like ‘What do you think is happening?’ There was nobody calling me seeking or demanding entry … It wasn’t really one of those great feelings to work in college sports, in my experience.”

With the dust still settling, the Big Ten in 2024 will span from Washington and Oregon on the west coast to Rutgers not far from the Atlantic. The Big 12 will run from Arizona to West Virginia.

Sankey said the expansion of Texas and Oklahoma “wasn’t about money” and was not orchestrated by ESPN.

“Certainly you make decisions about money,” he said. “But money should follow. It shouldn’t be in the lead.”

Then he sideswiped the expansion of the two conferences with ballooning footprints.

“We have this contiguous group that has a national platform,” Sankey said. “We don’t need to be in four time zones to generate interest on the west coast or really across the globe.”

All the changes also brings the expanded College Football Playoff format into question.

Sankey used a question on that topic to hit the failed “Alliance” between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12. He called it “unfortunate and unnecessary.” He noted there hasn’t been a playoff team from west of the Rocky Mountains since 2016.

“So the expansion was about making sure we brought in western football,” Sankey said Tuesday. “Well now what’s happened is western football has come into other conferences. The net of that is circumstances have changed and I think it’s wise for us to step back and take a look at what the format might look like given these changes in circumstances.”

Sankey went ask “how many FBS conferences will exist in 30-60 days?”

Later asked about the perceived money grab with teams leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten and Big 12, Sankey was deferential.

“I don’t know the motivations of others, who moved what and what phone calls were made and I just have to be transparent about that,” he said. “I’ve done well explaining what happened with our expansion and the outreach from (Texas and Oklahoma presidents) saying we want to be a part of that.”

The Longhorns and Sooners will begin play in the SEC in 2024. The Pac-12 defections will also start with their new leagues next fall with Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC going to the Big Ten while Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah go to the Big 12. Currently remaining in the Pac-12: Cal, Stanford, Washington State and Oregon State.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.