Greg Sankey doubles down on SEC, NCAA governance model

As the SEC spring meetings wrapped up Thursday, commissioner Greg Sankey re-emphasized where the conference stands on NCAA governance. He doubled down on the league’s desire for a Power 4 division within the NCAA.

Under that model, the power conferences would be able to legislate independently while maintaining full autonomy and still competing for NCAA championships, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. Sankey also clarified a Yahoo Sports report that said league presidents gave him the authority to separate its rule-making from the NCAA, confirming there was not a formal vote.

In his opening press conference on Monday, Sankey said he heard from people within the conference questioning why the SEC is still part of the NCAA. However, he made it clear he cannot make a decision about departing the association.

“In this current iteration, the Southeastern Conference has asked for more authority and autonomy for the four conferences. … I don’t have the authority to just depart [the NCAA],” Sankey said. “That’s not been voted upon. I’ve shared with the decision-making working group, I have people in my room asking, ‘Why are we still in the NCAA?'”

Amid the discussions, Sankey said a working group is addressing concerns. He’s part of it, as well as Ole Miss chancellor Glenn Boyce. From there, it comes down to putting the SEC in the best position for success.

“There was a report early in the week that I had authority to depart the NCAA,” Greg Sankey said Wednesday on The Paul Finebaum Show. “In Monday’s press conference, my observation was in our room, there are those who asked, ‘Does the NCAA still work for us? Why are we still in the NCAA?’ So we talked about a decision-making working group – Chancellor Boyce from Ole Miss and myself are on that. What is our position?

“We felt, and I think we still feel that an autonomy division within the NCAA is the best direction. So that’s a decision we’ve made before. How do we position it as this conversation takes place?”

One of the central issues to the authority the SEC has – as well as the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC – is the House v. NCAA settlement. The college sports world is still waiting for a ruling from Judge Claudia Wilken on approval of the landmark agreement, and documents show the NCAA is set to cede enforcement to the power conferences if it receives full approval.