SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is not afraid of the phrase “super-conference.”
In fact, he’s embracing it.
“For all those of you who like to speculate about super-conferences, welcome to one. We have common sense geography, restored rivalries, record-breaking viewership,” Sankey said as part of his “State of the SEC” remarks at the 2025 SEC Football Media Days in Atlanta, Georgia.
There are no denying the SEC’s accomplishments and power as a conference, and all in attendance were reminded of a few of them on Monday.
“The successes we’ve enjoyed produced nine National Championships out of our 22 sports, five winners of the Honda Sports Award. We had the nation’s highest attendance figures in seven sports. For the 26th consecutive season, we led the nation in football attendance; soccer for the second consecutive season, showing the emergence of that sport in that conference; women’s basketball for the sixth consecutive season; men’s baseball led the nation in top average. We included the top three attended programs in the nation in Kentucky, Arkansas, and Tennessee. We continued to lead women’s gymnastics attendance. Baseball outpaced football; the 28th consecutive year we led the nation in college baseball attendance.”
While a look at the past is always necessary, Sankey was also interested in discussing the current and future topics of collegiate athletics as they relate to the SEC.
When it comes to tournament expansion, whether basketball, football, or something else, Sankey gave his thoughts. He was quick, however, to point out that the league will be just fine, regardless of the format.
“We had a record 14 teams selected to participate in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, after what is, without question, a historically successful regular season. We had 10 teams, tying our own record, selected to participate in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. We’re going to be fine, but we think there are enough quality teams to make this growth appropriate,” Sankey said about NCAA Tournament expansion talks in basketball.
Speaking of postseason formats, many have assumed that the SEC were not only interested in but perhaps were leading the charge in the College Football Playoff expansion rumors. However, Sankey seemed fond of the first iteration of the 12-team playoff that we saw last season.
“I felt the first year of the 12-year College Football Playoff was a success. That doesn’t mean everything was perfect, and there are certainly opportunities to improve. But what happened through the 12-team College Football Playoff is we brought teams into the conversation at a time when they would have been talking about their bowl game. We brought teams into the National Championship conversation so the young people on those teams had that National Championship competition access point.”
While he is not in a rush, Sankey did acknowledge the conversation to expand that has been going on. He referenced the meetings that took place in Destin earlier this summer.
“Those of you with us in Destin will remember a lot of speculation going into that meeting, but what came out is we think growth beyond 12 could be positive and should be pursued. There’s also a belief that the process for selecting teams to participate in the College Football Playoff can be updated and improved itself.”
With all of these conversations, one thing is clear: college athletics are changing. It does not sound like the SEC is surprised or worried about that.
“I don’t think there’s been a time in the last hundred years where so much change is in front of the college athletics enterprise as exists right now. It’s actually amazing and exciting to consider the importance of the time during which we lead and serve,” Sankey said about the current climate.
The next few years will continue to see these changes evolve, and it appears that the Southeastern Conference is prepared to be at the forefront of it.
