WATCH: SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey reveals stance on breaking conference into pods
With the incoming additions of Texas and Oklahoma into the SEC, the conference will jump to 16 teams, and rumors of four-team pods throughout the SEC have been a solution for managing the overflow of programs and eliminating the division-based format that has worked for the last few decades. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey commented on his stance on pods three years out of the major move.
““It’s on our list. We’re not going to do it in a knee jerk way,” Sankey said. “… When we go to 16 (teams) that possibility is front and center for the SEC.”
Sankey did say that the divisions have worked for the SEC since its inception in 1992. The format has worked perfectly in terms of fairly determining the SEC Championship game, but with pods, the SEC Championship-berth criteria would have to change as well.
“Unless the sentiment of our league changes greatly, the division format works and when we go to 16, that would be the time for adjustment,” he said.
Greg Sankey releases statement following NIL discussion on Capitol Hill
Many people across the college football landscape have been pleading for reform and some kind of regulation of NIL recently. Well on Thursday afternoon, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made his way to Capitol Hill to meet with a number of U.S. Senators to see if Congress could step in and assist with federal legislation on the matter. He released a statement on Thursday evening following his trip to Washington, D.C.:
“I appreciate today’s opportunity fo conversation and dialogue with members of Congress. As we have observed activity emerge that is very different from original ideas around, Name, Image, and Likeness, it is important we continue to pursue NIL structure to support the thousands of opportunities made available for young people through intercollegiate athletics programs across the country,” Sankey said.