Kirby Smart on SEC potentially breaking away from SEC: ‘I’ve been there’

With all of the talk about the SEC potentially breaking away from the NCAA, count Georgia coach Kirby Smart among those in favor. In fact, this is nothing new! “Yeah, I’ve actually been there for a long time,” Smart said, via On3’s Brett McMurphy. $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage Conversations about SEC self-governance have been prevalent since the league’s spring meetings in Destin. Georgia president Jere Morehead and Smart notably suggested the conference could potentially create its own postseason playoff. 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. Kirby Smart in favor of SEC breaking away? SEC commissioner Greg Sankey these conversations are real. Now, whether the SEC does this solo or in partnership with the Big Ten remains to be seen. Although ESPN’s Paul Finebaum and Heather Dinich don’t foresee that any time soon due to certain roadblocks. “I think that’s what they would like to do,” Finebaum said of breaking away on Get Up. “The issue there is litigation for antitrust. If the Big Ten and the SEC suddenly formed a Super League, they would get destroyed in court, and that’s really the issue because all these players are going to court for their sixth, seventh, and eighth year of eligibility. We saw Sorsby do it in the gambling case. “So I think everyone has to stay on their own terms: The Big 12, the Big Ten, the ACC, but I think they can create their own rules. But without Congress giving them an antitrust exemption, which the major sports leagues have, as you all know, they’re still vulnerable, and that is really where we are right now.” 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.”