Debate ensued in the college football world – and the college athletics world for that matter – when SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made comments suggesting the conference might be looking to leave the NCAA.
A drastic action like that doesn’t appear to be imminent. However, if that were to happen, the Group of Five would surely feel some impact. The SEC does bring a great deal of money in the FBS, but if the SEC (and potentially more conferences like the Big Ten) were to ever leave, then the overall structure for whatever level the G5 would be at would surely look different. That would be especially true for the playoffs or whatever postseason format that would materialize.
Since so many college football fans are discussing the potential of the SEC leaving the NCAA, here’s a quick look at how those conversations were sparked and where things could go from there.
New Customer Offers at BetMGM
Bonus Bets Expire in 7 Days. One New Customer Offer Only. Add’l Terms
Commissioner Greg Sankey On The SEC Breaking Away From The NCAA
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey recently told media that SEC athletic directors and decision makers had wondered why the SEC hasn’t departed from the NCAA.
Even if the SEC doesn’t break away, Sankey and others have argued for more decision-making power with the NCAA. According to him, the SEC hopes the autonomy conferences – which includes the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC and leaves out the Group of Five – have 68% autonomy soon.
Is The SEC Leaving The NCAA For Football?
The SEC has not formally made any declaration that it intends on leaving the NCAA. However, speculation about the possibility of that has swirled for years, and only more questions arose in recent days.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey did eventually say that the conference intends on sticking with the NCAA for now, but rumors about when or if the SEC would ever try to pull a move like that aren’t going to go away after his recent comments.
When Would The SEC Plan To Leave The NCAA?
There is no timetable for any SEC move, as the conference has stated that it intends to remain with the NCAA.
However, if a move like that were to ever happen, it could perhaps fall in line when media deals are up. For example, the Pac-12’s media rights deal was about to be over, and eventually led to a mass exodus and the conference having to essentially start over with Oregon State, Washington State, and Mountain West schools.
How Many SEC Teams Are There?
There are 16 teams in the SEC. Those teams are: Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Missouri, Florida, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Auburn, Kentucky, and Mississippi State.
There are also 18 teams in the Big Ten. So if those two leagues did end up deciding they wanted to split from the rest of the NCAA, like some have speculated, they would have enough teams to make a league of their own. There are 32 teams in the NFL, for example, so the Big Ten and SEC could conceivably make one unified organization and split up into two leagues, like an NFC and AFC.
This is, of course, hypothetical and much more would need to happen for that to take place. But it’s not impossible.
