Greg Sankey responds to question about further SEC expansion: ‘We don’t feel pressured’
By Keith Farner
Published:
Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner, covered a range of topics from the podium on Monday, including further expansion by the SEC beyond 16 teams after Oklahoma and Texas officially join the league.
“We’re attentive, we’re engaged in conversation,” Sankey said. “… We’re really looking forward to expansion being 16 teams and don’t feel pressure. … We’ll watch what happens around us, and be thoughtful but be nimble. We don’t feel pressured to operate at a number.”
Reports and speculation in recent weeks since Southern Cal and UCLA joined the Big Ten have focused on schools such as Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina potentially joining the SEC.
Sankey repeatedly referred to the SEC being in contiguous states, which reflects a reasonable geography and like-minded universities.
Sankey added that it’s great news that the SEC is in a position where people call and say “You’re doing something special.”
Sankey also said from the podium that Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC before 2025 is not up to him, but up to the Big 12 Conference and those schools.
At last week’s Big 12 Media Days, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark did not rule out an early exit from the Big 12 for Texas and Oklahoma. Yormark noted that an early departure needs to make sense for his conference and the schools.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
