SEC commissioner answers whether they will expand to West Coast
July 15, 2019; Birmingham, AL, USA; SEC commissioner Greg Sankey speaks to the media during SEC Media Days at the Hyatt Regency-Birmingham. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports
The SEC has been one of the driving forces behind conference expansion. They added Texas A&M and Missouri from the Big 12 in 2012. In 2024, Texas and Oklahoma are set to join the conference and exit the Big 12.
Their actions have caused a chain reaction where conferences raid other conferences in order to fill vacancies.
Though the SEC has been at the forefront of expansion efforts, conference commissioner Greg Sankey says the powerful league is not looking to add any West Coast schools. Sankey made his comments during an appearance Tuesday on “The Paul Finebaum Show.”
“We don’t need to be in four time zones to generate interest on the West Coast or or really across the globe,” Sankey said.
The Pac-12 falling apart has left some of their schools in limbo, which led to the query. The Big Ten is adding UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington in 2024. The Big 12 is adding Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado next year as well. There have been reports saying the ACC is looking into Pac-12 leftovers Cal and Stanford. There really is nothing desirable left out West in a college football sense for the SEC to pursue. And if there was anything they wanted, they would have already added it.
If the SEC expands again — and I would expect that to happen at some point — schools like Clemson and Florida State from the ACC would seemingly be prime targets. Some of the best football brands in the country are consolidating into just a few conferences, in case you haven’t noticed. They have their eye on creating a mini-NFL.
Though SEC expansion is not at the forefront for Sankey, there is another more pressing item on his agenda. Sankey thinks the College Football Playoff needs to reexamine its postseason and how the 12-team playoff will look.
Now that conferences are consolidating, fully expect the CFP to make adjustments that will benefit the teams in the SEC and Big Ten.
Regarding future @CFBPlayoff, SEC commish Greg Sankey tells @finebaum: "I think it’s wise for us to take a step back & reconsider what the (playoff) format might look like, given these changed circumstances. I have not had any meaningful conversations, but I think we have to…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 9, 2023
Sankey has wanted to replicate what England’s top soccer teams did when they broke from the system to create the Premier League. He is on his way to doing so by consolidating the most powerful brands in college football.