Greg Sankey Admits Interest In SEC And Big Ten Breaking Away From NCAA
SEC Commissioner reveals several member schools want to 'go our own way.'
There was some hope this past week that the endless upheaval of college sports, and particularly college football, would finally get some clarity moving forward.
The roundtable hosted by President Donald Trump, featuring important leaders, personalities, and politicians involved or interested in college sports, was supposed to lead to potential executive action on the future of football, NIL, and other considerations. While that may still happen, there's a growing sense and possibility that the two most important bodies in modern college football, the Big Ten and SEC, might just take matters into their own hands.
This possibility has been brewing for quite some time, accelerating after realignment and expansion created massive, coast-to-coast super conferences.
Well, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey spoke a bit more about it this week, and didn't exactly deny that a breakaway league between the two conferences is a very realistic possibility.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
Big Ten, SEC, Could Spearhead Charge To Leave NCAA
Sankey joined "The Paul Finebaum Show" on the SEC Network earlier this week, and said there's "more and more interest" in doing something outside the NCAA.
"How do we work with colleagues to solve problems? Can we do that collectively?" Sankey said. "If there’s a point at which we cannot do so, I think the conversation that informs the question that you ask, ‘Is there something you’d do alone?’ I think that that starts to generate more and more interest."
Sankey did say that he doesn't think that's "the right decision," but the idea does have support among several of his member institutions.
"I’ve acknowledged there are those who have said we should go our own way. I don’t think that’s the right decision. We have relationships and responsibilities within Division I," he said.
Again, not exactly a denial that the SEC is exploring opportunities outside the NCAA structure. And honestly, it's not remotely surprising or unexpected. The NCAA has become a mostly functional organization that issues waivers for extra eligibility, while being completely sidelined when it comes to major issues or questions within the sport.
An OutKick source said that leadership from the Big Ten and SEC are meeting with NCAA President Charlie Baker this week to discuss things like College Football Playoff expansion. And while Baker will give his input, at the end of the day, the decision will come down to Sankey and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti.
Obviously, there are other conferences and programs that would be impacted, but if the Power 4 and, say, Notre Dame, went on their own, rules could be rethought from the ground up in the NIL era, instead of shoehorned into existing systems that weren't designed for them. As always, it's a fascinating time in college football. Stay tuned.