Greg Sankey Impressed with Oklahoma's First Year in SEC: 'Fundamentals Are There'

After one year of competition in the Southeastern Conference, the Sooners received praise from the league’s commissioner.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

After one year of competition in the Southeastern Conference, Oklahoma received praise from the league’s commissioner.

Greg Sankey, the SEC’s commissioner since 2015, spoke to Dari Nowkhah of KREF and SEC Network on Wednesday, reflecting on the Sooners’ first year in the conference.

The Sooners and Texas joined the conference on July 1, 2024, parting from the Big 12 Conference. The schools brought the SEC’s membership to 16 teams, and OU and Texas were the league’s first new members since Texas A&M and Missouri joined in 2012.

Sankey visited Norman on OU’s first day in the conference last year, and at that moment, the commissioner knew the Sooners would be a good fit.

“366 days ago I was in Norman for the welcome celebration,” Sankey said on the Dari Nowkhah Show. “For me, returning frequently — relative to my schedule — to be at football games, basketball games … was special.”

When considering expanding the league, Sankey noted that the athletic and academic traditions at Oklahoma and Texas stood out.

“High-level universities where leadership is very interested in both the academic positioning and athletic success,” Sankey said. “The influence is beyond just the boundaries of the state for national promise. When you look from the moment forward of long-term success, the fundamentals are there.”

Oklahoma’s first year in the SEC had its ups and downs.

The Sooners’ football team went 2-6 in conference play and finished with a 6-7 overall record, losing to Navy in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team squeaked into the NCAA Tournament with a 20-13 record after beginning the season 13-0. Oklahoma reached the regional round of the NCAA Tournament in baseball, ending the year 38-22.

OU’s women’s programs were particularly successful. The Sooners won their third gymnastics national championship in the last four years, while their softball team reached the Women’s College World Series semifinals and had their four-year national championship streak broken. Oklahoma women’s basketball reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, falling to eventual national champion UConn in that round.

Sankey, though, sees the ups and downs for each OU team as natural — and he expects each of the Sooners’ major programs to enjoy success as an SEC member.

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“When you look from the moment forward of long-term success, the fundamentals are there,” Sankey said. “You’re always going to have cycles, in college sports, of success and maybe looking up at others who are enjoying the success you want. 

“You look at the sustained success, in many ways, that’s representative of their success across the board. You go down the list, and I think the fundamentals are there for both long-term and short-term success at the University of Oklahoma.”

With football, Sankey pointed out the ups and downs that Texas A&M and Missouri have seen since joining the conference.

The Aggies went 11-2 (6-2 SEC) in their first SEC season, 2012, but didn’t have a winning conference season again until 2018. They later went 9-1 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, finishing No. 4 in the nation and winning the Orange Bowl.

Missouri went 5-7 in its first SEC season before winning back-to-back SEC East titles in 2013 and 2014. The Tigers then struggled for several years in a row before winning 21 games combined over the last two seasons.

Between Oklahoma’s program tradition and its current leadership, Sankey believes OU will again be a title contender in the SEC.

“I think the leadership in football that Brent (Venables) provides… the fundamentals are there,” Sankey said.