TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday that leaders of the powerhouse league are having “real” conversations about breaking away from the rest of college sports, though that's not the preferred solution.
“They’re real,” Greg Sankey said Monday of conversations with school presidents involving the SEC separating itself from the rest of the NCAA. “They’ve opened about the frustrations that bring them to the point of saying we should look at something significantly different.”
Sankey's 45-minute meeting with reporters to kick off SEC football media days detailed the entire list of issues that college sports is struggling with: Congressional legislation, litigation stemming from the new five-year eligibility rule, the future of the College Football Playoff and an overall lack of transparency regarding name, image and likeness payments to players.
Sankey acknowledged the conference's frustration with all those issues, but also touted the league's 13 national championships won last season across a variety of sports as a key reason it's in no rush to move away from the current framework.
“There is meaning and value and I do think a national expectation that we participate in a national organization,” he said.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
