SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey Elaborates on Potential Football Schedule Changes
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — We are just over a month away from the Southeastern Conference's annual Spring Meetings down in Destin, Fla., and the discussion of schedule changes for the football team's of the conference has already returned among fans, media and institutions alike.
On Monday afternoon, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey held an open Q&A forum with members of the media at the APSE Southeast Region Meeting, which was held across the street from the league's offices at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. During his time with reporters, Sankey fielded multiple questions regarding the schedule changes that will will be voted on in late May.
"We're not talking about a one-game or three-game schedule — that was never part of the conversation," Sankey said regarding the rumors of teams having three permanent rival opponents. "Now, depending on whether we play eight games or nine games, some of the models have one rival that's played on an annual basis or three, but there's a whole other set of teams that fill out the schedule.
"What we have learned through our analysis is we can narrow the competitive bandwidth compared to our two-division format currently where, depending on the ebb and flow of divisional strength, some team's schedule is much more challenging than others within the conference. That's the type of information we've developed over time and will be used as we make a decision."
The 14 coaches of the SEC met with Sankey last spring in Destin, with the discussions of new scheduling being discussed. However, a vote was ultimately tabled in favor of obtaining more information and conducting research on what format would best benefit al member institutions. With the addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the conference beginning in 2024, scheduling in addition to the redistribution of teams among the two divisions — or their abolishment entirely — has been a hot topic.
Sankey doubled-down that the schedule format will be rotated between eight or nine opponents, with one permanent rival also being part of the mix. Another option brought up by Sankey was the potential to get rid of the annual non-conference Power Five game, but the conditions of that potential rule change were not elaborated on.
Sankey was blunt when asked on if he believes the required non-conference Power Five game will be removed with the updated schedule.
"I don't assume that, nor do I believe it will remain," Sankey said. "But that's part of the conversation. We're talking about change, and as I said last year — probably right at this very gathering — we were poised to make a decision, decided the opportunity to gather more information was important and relevant. New information can change people's perspectives, so we have a fully-developed conversation to this point, provided a lot of information individually, in small groups and in full-membership groups and we'll continue to do that as we advance with the idea that Destin is a decision point."
One of the larger concerns among fans with the potential three permanent opponents model has been the scheduling balance. Alabama, for example, would likely face Auburn, LSU and Tennessee on an annual basis — a permanent group of three tough teams. Meanwhile, another team might have a much easier rotation, depending on their rivals.
Sankey noted that the analytics point to a larger body of rotating opponents rather than a small field of permanent ones tends to make power disparity more equally spread out.
"There will not be a three-game conference schedule," Sankey said. "There will be a nine-game conference schedule or an eight-game conference schedule, and one has to look at the entire spectrum of opponents over time to understand the competitive realities.
"If you run some analytics and you look at the differential and schedule strengths in our divisional format, there's a greater disparity than there would be for an eight-game or nine-game schedule. The more you play, the more you narrow that competitive disparity across the board."
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