Greg Sankey says SEC doesn't have to spread '4 time zones' to generate interest
Greg Sankey let out a subtle jab against the Big 12 and B1G Tuesday on the Paul Finebaum Show over everyone’s favorite topic: conference realignment.
The SEC commissioner told Finebaum that the SEC does not necessarily have to span 4 time zones to generate interest on the West Coast. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
Greg Sankey says on @finebaum the SEC “doesn’t need to be in four time zones to generate interest on the West Coast or really across the globe.”
— John Talty (@JTalty) August 8, 2023
This is not the first time Sankey has addressed the SEC’s desire to keep some semblance of a geographic standpoint during expansion talks. Oklahoma and Texas are not exactly the first places you think of when you heard the term “Southeastern,” but all 16 SEC programs will still be within a similar region in the United States.
In other words, Florida will not have to fly across the country for a Tuesday night basketball game against the Oregon Ducks in mid-February.
Sankey is simply stating the SEC is a big enough brand that interest comes naturally. They’ve no need to reach for a team out west to simply fill a gap. And with big brands like Alabama, Georgia, LSU and so forth, we’d say he has a point.