SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey Says Concern Level “Very High” About Return of LSU, College Football in the Fall
Time is of the essence as conference commissioners will soon be forced to make final decisions on what to do about college football in the fall. The Big Ten and the Pac-12 have already elected to move to an all-conference schedule but even that doesn’t guarantee a season will occur.
The SEC is taking its time but commissioner Greg Sankey says his concern level is “high to very high” about the future of the 2020 college season. Back in April, the SEC put together a medical advisory group to come up with solutions as to what it would take to get sports in the fall.
During an interview on ESPN radio show “Marty and Magee,” Sankey said the conference is “running out of time” to make decisions. Sankey relayed his frustration with the politicization of medical practices like wearing masks and social distancing.
“As a society we owe it to each other to be as healthy as we can be,” Sankey said. “The direct reality is not good and the notion that we've politicized medical guidance of distancing, and breathing masks, and hand sanitization, ventilation of being outside, being careful where you are in buildings. There's some very clear advice about -- you can't mitigate and eliminate every risk, but how do you minimize the risk? We are running out of time to correct and get things right, and as a society we owe it to each other to be as healthy as we can be."
Sankey said any decisions from the SEC about fall sports will be decided at the end of July. While conferences like the Big Ten and Pac-12 have already made their decisions on a conference only schedule public, Sankey said there is no pressure on the SEC to follow in their footsteps.
It was reported Friday afternoon that Alabama and USC, who were slated to open the season against one another, were moving towards a cancellation. Other high profile non-conference games in the SEC include LSU-Texas, Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson and Auburn-North Carolina.
“We're trying to make the right decisions for us, for the Southeastern Conference,” Sankey said. “It does have an impact because I've said publicly we're all linked nationally, so when other people make decisions, yup, there's an impact, but also we're going to look at our situation and make a decision that's appropriate for the Southeastern Conference and most importantly for the health of our student athletes."
Right now there are three possible decisions that grow more likely by the day. The conference can elect to follow suit of the Big Ten and Pac-12 and move to an all-conference schedule, delay the season further into the fall or push the season to the spring.
The meeting on Monday between the conference and the 14 athletic directors will be a way for Sankey and the conference to hear any ideas on an effort to save the season.
“What I've tried to do is both keep a focus on what's ahead but provide reality, which has been I'm going to focus on preparing to play the season as scheduled but acknowledge the circumstances around coronavirus are going to guide us in that decision-making,” Sankey said. “The reality right now is the trends in our region, in our nation, are not in the positive direction for being able to have normal experiences."
