On screwy officiating, I’ll say this then shut up.
I’ve been around corrupt politics to have a feel for what is likely at play. I think officials hate our style of play and hate getting assigned to our games. It’s fast, taxing, and stresses their limits. And we’re unapologetic about causing that stress.
This isn’t limited to SEC refs. There’s a very small group of people in the profession, and it’s an art to them. To make it up the ladder, you have to control the flow of the game. It gets into having to know who the star players are and letting them play without much interference. They don’t like being controlled, but to be in control. This is based on some inside knowledge I’ve acquired.
Back to political corruption, if you don’t pander, you’re exiled. Oh sure, politicians are great at appearances on the surface, but it’s a dirty game if you know what’s really going on.
How does this apply to officiating? College coaches have to pander to avoid being at odds with officials. If you make their job difficult, the small fraternity will exile you. Our unwavering style of play has exiled us from their good graces.
That’s exactly what we’re seeing this year. It’s not from the SEC office. Its that we make their job difficult, word travels, and they’re making it tough on us in return. Oh sure, Sankey knows what’s going on, but he’s not orchestrating it nor stepping in the way.
TL;DR: the ref system is broken
...it's on purpose either way...but that makes them even more total f'n scumbags if that is the reason, I would understand more if it was because they are ordered to by their boss instead of just screwing our players over just because they are arrogant, lazy, pieces of cheating 
