Commish: SEC focus on making system better, new legislation - ESPN

TAMPA, Fla. — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on Wednesday reiterated that his conference leaders have had conversations about self-governance, but told ESPN the idea of the SEC creating its own rules is «not new» and «it's not a breakaway» from the NCAA.

Frustrations throughout college athletics have reached a boiling point at every level, but the preference within the SEC and other leagues remains getting help from Congress in the form of federal legislation. With the clock ticking on Capitol Hill, though, SEC leaders for months have been talking about other options.

«Those frustrations are real,» Sankey said. «What we want to do is make the system better, and if people want to focus on breakaway on the outside, fine. But we focus on different things internally.»

Following Sankey's opening comments at the podium Monday at the beginning of SEC media days, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN that there have been additional conversations about the SEC considering playing entirely conference games in all sports. Sankey, though, warned of broader national implications, including potential legal problems for the conference. He pointed to the importance of the NCAA-run championships in all sports except football, which is run through the College Football Playoff.

«American culture expects March Madness to happen,» he said. «They expect a Cinderella story. They expect whatever it is, 30 automatic bids to exist. They expect the Southland Conference to have a seat at the table, and we have to be sensitive to that. We have HBCUs in our footprint that are attached to Division I, and I communicate with my colleague from the SWAC regularly.

»I know that if there was just a breakaway, we'd be in front of Congress explaining ourselves