SEC commissioner Greg Sankey says the conference is just fine as is, thank you very much. Yet a lot of schools seemingly want in despite of that.
Texas and Oklahoma are the latest to join and Sankey was asked multiple times about what's going on with all this conference realignment. The SEC held media day on Monday and as ESPN wrote, Sankey was asked about the lawsuits involving Florida State, Clemson and the ACC.
"Judges in Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina are currently hearing arguments in those cases," ESPN wrote. "Florida State and Clemson have sued challenging the grant of rights; the ACC has sued those schools to defend the conference."
Sankey responded by saying the SEC can only focus on its own programs.
"We're focused on our 16," he said. "I'm not a recruiter. My job is to make sure we meet the standard of excellence that we have for ourselves on a daily basis," Sankey said. "That attracts interest. It's done that with the two universities that we have added this year. They're not the only phone calls I've ever had, but I'm not involved in recruitment.
"Our presidents have been clear that I am not going to entangle us in litigation around expansion. So I pay attention, but I'm not engaged in those conversations. The broader implications, obviously if things change, then there's a new level of uncertainty. It already creates speculation that I think is counterproductive, but I don't spend an enormous amount of my time thinking about it. I certainly don't spend any time engaged in that recruiting activity because we're focused on our 16."
Sweet Sixteen. For now, that's the SEC.
