Greg Sankey addresses discussions about possible SEC breakaway: ‘They’re real’

After Yahoo! Sports reported last week the SEC was considering “Plan B” amid talks about the Protect College Sports Act, commissioner Greg Sankey confirmed those talks are not just a negotiating play. He said the discussions are “real” as the college athletics landscape shifts. Conversations about SEC self-governance have been prevalent since the league’s spring meetings in Destin. Georgia president Jere Morehead and head football coach Kirby Smart notably suggested the conference could potentially create its own postseason playoff. [ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ] However, Yahoo! Sports reported discussions have continued about “Plan B,” which would include a form of self-governance. When asked if the conversations were “real” during his opening remarks on Monday, Sankey borrowed the phrasing and said they are, given frustrations about the state of the landscape. He noted previous rules the SEC had that others did not, such as a a prior sit-out year for players who transfer in-conference. “You phrased the question, ‘How real?’ So I’ll take that as, like, real or not. So they’re real,” Sankey said at SEC media days. “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. “I do not believe that is a leverage point – I think that’s just honest communication. I would prefer that stay in a meeting room or on a video conference and not be part of the D1.ticker the next morning, but I don’t control all of that.” Greg Sankey: ‘National organization must function in a healthy manner’ Greg Sankey also acknowledged the SEC’s expectations to be competing for NCAA national championships, citing 13 from the conference. That’s important, he said, but he also said it’s important for the governing body to be “healthy.” SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter But Sankey cited frustrations with the implementation of the five-year age-based eligibility model, as well as separate conversations about the College Football Playoff, as factors that come into play. As a result, the “frustration” is building. “I think some of the transition into this five-year eligibility model, that it happened when it did and the way it did, that magnifies frustration,” Sankey said. “We went through a College Football Playoff discussion for years and introduced a 12-team playoff where it just sat because colleagues couldn’t move. And they had reasons, but those reasons really didn’t resonate. So understand that beneath the observation is frustration. “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.”