SEC Media Days: Greg Sankey Won't 'Linger' on Decision for Future Conference Schedule

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was noncommittal on the conference's future scheduling model, but he said there isn't anyone looking to swap schedules with the league.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

ATLANTA — Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey kicked off his conference’s Media Days with a few powerful statements. 

Sankey took the podium at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown, and reaffirmed that his conference will lead the way in College Football Playoff format discussions. He also pushed back on the notion that the SEC has to move to a nine-game conference schedule in football. 

“Last season, all 16 members of the Southeastern Conference played nine games against what you would label ‘Power’ opponents,” he said. “We had several that played 10 of their 12 games against Power opponents. Some conferences have that, some don’t.”

“… I don’t believe there’s anyone looking to swap their conference schedule and its opponents with the opponents played by Southeastern Conference teams in our conference schedule, be it eight or nine. … There’s a rigor here that’s unique.”

Sankey’s “Super Conference” is entering its second year of an eight-game schedule with 16 members. 

Each school is also directed to play one additional non-conference game against a program from a Power 4 league, which for some teams takes the form of an in-state rivalry game.

And while the SEC will not be forced to adjust anything, Sankey did say a shift to a nine-game conference schedule is still being discussed. 

“The SEC, we’re not lacking for quality competition among our 16 football teams. But we’re going to evaluate whether increasing the number of conference football games is appropriate for us,” he said. “And as I’ve said repeatedly, understanding how the CFP will evaluate strength of schedule and even strength of record is critically important in our decision making.”

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Regardless of the direction, a decision must come quickly on the format for the 2026 schedule. 

Oklahoma currently has three non-conference contests on the books — battles against UTEP and New Mexico as well as a return trip to Michigan after the two blue bloods face off in Week 2 this year — meaning the Sooners would be one of many SEC schools needing to fill their schedule with an additional game if the conference stays put at eight league games. 

“It won’t linger terribly much longer,” Sankey said. “ … Once we make a decision in the conference office, we’re pretty ready to go. If you go back to when we made our last decision … I think two weeks later we had opponents out and shortly thereafter we were prepared with dates and sites and things.”

The 2025 schedule simply inverted each team’s 2024 slate. 

If the league stays at eight games, it would be logical for each team to keep one common opponent (Oklahoma and Texas will continue to play, for instance) and then rotate through the rest of the conference for the remaining seven games. 

A nine-game schedule would require a shift in the scheduling model.

Regardless of the decision the SEC makes, Sankey said there will be constant efforts to re-evaluate the schedule to ensure it benefits the entire league. 

“Our discussion now is perhaps look-ins every so often might be wise,” Sankey said. “So while you might want to answer it once and for all, I do think there’s an expectation that we will at least have look-in opportunities should the schedule change.”