Greg Sankey didn’t hide from the question he probably knew was going to be asked of him on Monday morning during his 45-minute session with reporters that kicked off SEC Media Days in Tampa.
The question was, is the SEC really having discussions about breaking away from the rest of the college sports structure? The SEC commissioner’s 2-word response provided the reality.
“They’re real,” Sankey told reporters about those discussions.
Sankey qualified it though by saying that a clean break from that NCAA structure isn’t the desired solution for the SEC. However, there have been discussions involving school presidents about the SEC separating itself from the rest of the college sports structure.
Issues like Congressional legislation, litigation stemming from the new 5-year eligibility rule, lack of transparency involving NIL payments to players and the structure of the College Football Playoff are all serious ones that Sankey admitted have frustrated the SEC. But then he also pointed to something that has the SEC in no rush to break from the current system — the conference’s 13 national championships that it won last season across all sports.
Still, the discussions are out there, as Sankey acknowledged to reporters on Monday morning.
“People have talked about that. They’ve opined about the frustrations that bring them to the point of saying we should look at something significantly different,” Sankey said. “I would prefer that stay in a meeting room or on a videoconference, not be part of the D1.ticker the next morning, but I don’t control all of that.”
Sankey said that he prefers that these “real” talks would convey just how the SEC feels about those aforementioned issues.
“What I think is important is those comments represent a high level of frustration with the circumstance in which we find ourselves,” Sankey said. “We have regulated ourselves more progressively than other colleagues by choice, across our league. We’ve had different academic eligibility restrictions in the past. So, we have different transfer restrictions in the past.”
The word “frustration” continued to come up during Sankey’s session.
“So, understand that beneath the observation is frustration,” he said. “But I also know the pride with which I spoke of 13 national championships, and there is meaning and value, and I do think a national expectation that we participate in a national organization.
“But that national organization must function in a healthy manner; otherwise, that simmering will continue.”
Sankey’s words were about the potential future of the SEC. In the present, the SEC will go on as usual in 2026, with a conference trophy to be won at the end in December. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the best odds for those teams to capture the SEC crown:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
