Danny Kanell rips ESPN’s FPI over SEC bias, ‘talking points’
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Danny Kanell was a longtime college football analyst with ESPN. But there’s been no love lost between him and his former employer since being laid off by them in 2017, especially around what he perceives as a bias toward the SEC.
On Friday, ESPN updated its Football Power Index, with Miami and Clemson falling despite the season still weeks away. SEC schools like Tennessee and Florida moved up. SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee wasn’t a fan despite the Mustangs going up slightly, calling the FPI “rigged.”
Kanell isn’t much of a fan, either. He took to social media to share his thoughts on the changes, bringing up Florida as a team that shouldn’t have jumped amid injury concerns surrounding DJ Lagway.
“(The) good old Florida Gators moved up five spots. Must be all the good news around DJ Lagway, right?” Kanell said sarcastically.
The reason, Kanell argued, is the narrative he feels the SEC is trying to present.
“Since media days, the SEC has been talking nonstop about strength of schedule, how their teams are so much tougher than everybody else’s. Maybe that’s what they plugged into the numbers, which aren’t supposed to take in conversations or talking points, but somehow, miraculously, here we are,” he said.
Kanell finished by saying that Big 12 and ACC teams “should be absolutely terrified” of ESPN attempting to advance what he sees as a pro-SEC narrative. That’s especially as it pertains to the College Football Playoff and who does and doesn’t get in.
“There’s going to be a significant push this season to keep in those teams from the SEC, despite having potentially three losses to put them into the playoff over 10-2 and, yes, even 11-1 teams,” he said. “They are terrified that they’ll only get three teams in, and once again, for the third year in a row, potentially not having a team compete for the national championship.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
