Greg Sankey, runner of more than 40 marathons and Mike Slive’s right-hand man for many years in the SEC office, is the conference’s new commissioner.

His appointment has generated a wave of positive headlines in major newspapers across the Southeast and among national college football writers. The league’s coaches all sound delighted as well.

Not to doubt Sankey — the man clearly was the most qualified to inherit the office from the retiring Slive — but this is what we call the “honeymoon phase.” Ultimately, he’ll be judged on what he helps the conference accomplish during his tenure, however long it lasts.

Here are five issues that could help define his time as SEC commissioner.

1. COST OF ATTENDANCE

The No. 1 issue the NCAA faces in the next decade involves whether to further compensate student-athletes now that the income universities make off their backs is in the hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Should star players get a cut of the giant pie they help create?

As SEC commissioner, Greg Sankey’s voice carries weight in the discussion. And, when he testified at the Ed O’Bannon trial last year, Sankey said he’s against paying players and opening up what the C-USA commissioner described as Pandora’s box.

In terms of full cost of attendance, he’s taking a wait-and-see approach, according to the Associated Press.

“We’re going to follow the expectations of legal outcomes first. This conference comes together to work on issues, and it will. It will do it appropriately,” Sankey said. “I expect cost of attendance to be the same. We’re supportive of our student-athletes, and this is a new way to do that.”

The discussion surrounding this issue, and the creative solutions that have been proposed, are fluid, and that’s an understatement. Sankey and the SEC need to be able to evolve as things change. How he handles the new financial climate in college athletics could be the No. 1 thing that defines his legacy.

2. COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

The first-ever College Football Playoff launched Jan. 1. A selection committee slotted four teams into two semifinal games to determine a national champion.

The CFP eventually will expand to eight teams, right? We’ve seen how these things go, whether it’s the NBA, MLB or the NCAA Tournament. But the mechanisms that create such big changes are complex, and much like a bill in Congress, lots of constituents tend to add some fat to it to help their cause.

Former SEC commissioner Roy Kramer was the godfather of the BCS, and Slive played a major role in the creation of a playoff. How will Sankey influence the future of college football’s national championship?

“I think four is a good number. I was a commissioner when I-AA football playoffs had 16,” Sankey said last week. “I don’t think people that advocate for that have really thought through the toll that’s taken, not simply on the players, but the people participating in the games, but in the overall infrastructure.’

“I think what happened last year was great. I think it would have been even greater had an SEC team won that national championship. And that will be our focus in the future.”

We’ll have to wait to find out if that future includes an expanded playoff during Sankey’s tenure, and whether that’s a good thing for SEC football.

3. EXPANSION

Kramer added Arkansas and South Carolina. Slive added Missouri and Texas A&M. Will Sankey add universities as well?

The major earthquake already has occurred, but few believe we’ve passed through the final aftershocks. (How many teams are in the Big 12 now? The Big Ten? What about conference schedules, eight or nine games? How will the nascent conference TV networks fare, and will that eventually lead to further realignment?)

“Expansion is not something that’s on my top shelf,” Sankey said last week. “Excellence is, though. And excellence is a good thing.”

Mizzou and A&M just joined the SEC in 2012. There are no imminent, yet-to-be-announced moves with any team entering or departing a major conference. For now, the water is calm. But, depending on how long Sankey retains his post, he’s bound to face expansion talk at some point in the future, maybe a decade down the line.

4. NCAA INFRACTIONS

Sankey is as well-versed on the intricacies of NCAA legislation and compliance as any power-conference commissioner. A huge part of his role under the Slive administration was eradicating major NCAA infractions. (For a detailed, excellent look at Sankey’s credentials and track record, check out this Jon Solomon story for CBS.)

The SEC has done well in that area. The conference hasn’t been immune to trouble, but the biggest scandals in the last decade have occurred elsewhere: Penn State, Ohio State, USC, Miami.

Sankey already has a big head start from his time as associate executive commissioner.

Slive was no dummy, and he always made sure the league held as much of a competitive advantage as possible. But he did value academics and integrity as well, and has the track record to back it up. Can Sankey continue to put the conference into the best position to avoid scandal and punishment?

5. AUTONOMY

Slive hammered the NCAA into autonomy for the power five conferences as one of his last acts.

But, just like the economic divide in the general population, the gap between the haves and have-nots should only grow as the money, attention and power within college football expands. The issues and needs faced by power conferences are going to become more and more different.

Said NOLA.com back on Feb. 20: “… the SEC needs someone with Slive’s trait of grasping the wide scope of national issues, yet always doing what’s best for the league.”

At the time it appeared the other power-conference commissioners were coalescing to re-instate freshmen ineligibility, a concept that since has incurred strict media scrutiny. It’s still an issue under discussion, and the NOLA.com article framed it as something that could undercut the SEC’s big recruiting advantage.

“We do have freshmen ineligibility,” Sankey said after the announcement last week. “It’s really targeted freshmen ineligibility. So there’s a band of individuals who don’t meet certain standards and who won’t be able to compete starting in 2016. The observation is let’s see what that does. … I was part of crafting through a committee the standards that are in place, and I’m comfortable with those currently. But it will be part of the dialogue as we move forward.”

Regardless of what happens with freshmen eligibility, there’s a bigger picture. Slive is well-respected among SEC coaches, athletic directors, presidents and chancellors. He’s earned their trust. He must keep it by becoming a strong national politician, learning how to get the best and most for the SEC when all-encompassing issues arise.