While there’s a lot of pessimism around college football returning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey gave a reason for some optimism Wednesday morning.

Clay Travis, radio host for FOX Sports on Outkick, had Sankey on and discussed the potential of college football being played in the current climate. Sankey confirmed to Travis that things are moving in a positive direction among SEC athletes on campuses with respect to positive tests.

“Yeah, that’s correct and down to zero,” Sankey said on dropping positive cases. “Our programs are obligated to report locally and to their health officials. They do that appropriately and there has been learning. In fact, our comment has been there repeatedly and part of what I expect to happen upon to campus is a lot more information spread even more broadly about behavioral changes that have to take place because of the virus that is around us.”

While the conference will certainly take into consideration health data around the country before making a final decision, Sankey also indicated that the SEC will be closely monitoring sporting events taking place in the near-future, too. He singled out Major League Baseball because it won’t be played in a bubble, as well as NFL training camp.

“I actually have a list of events … Major League Baseball, who will move people around,” Sankey said. “They’re not in a bubble. They’re going to be moving their umpires around. That’s really an important set of information. … The start of NFL training camp is an important opportunity for us to view with football practice taking place. We’ve got time before our practices are scheduled to adjust.”

Sankey and the SEC have targeted late July to make a decision on how it will approach fall sports, including college football. The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already made decisions to play conference-only seasons. The SEC isn’t there yet, and the conference is going to wait until the last minute to decide.

The SEC Commissioner indicated to Travis that there is an outcome to where some conferences might not play, some conferences might go league play only and others could play a full schedule. All conferences will make independent decisions, but there’s a potential they all won’t end up at the same conclusion.