Rumors are exactly that — speculation based on little more than a guess. So when you hear talk of college football potentially forming a "super league," just know that it's not likely to happen. At least, not if you ask SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
In a meeting with reporters, Sankey dismissed talk that he might have an interest in a Super League and said college football is fine as is.
"The fact that people have interest in throwing ideas out, that's up to them," Sankey after the annual College Football Playoff spring meetings. "I spend my time on what I have to do.
"... You can use the cliché, 'If I was buying stock, I'd buy stock in college sports. Well, apparently a lot of people believe that outside of college sports. Something's going right."
Sankey's perspective indeed carries weight, especially given the SEC's impending expansion and the new revenue model for the College Football Playoff. The landscape of college athletics is undoubtedly evolving, with power dynamics shifting, as evidenced by recent developments in the playoff structure and conference realignment.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips shares Sankey's optimism about the future of college athletics, indicating a broader sentiment among conference leaders that despite changes and legal battles, there's confidence in the overall trajectory of the sport. This suggests a collective belief that despite challenges and transitions, the essence of college sports remains strong and promising.
"Certainly there's turmoil," Phillips said, via ESPN, "but when you look at what has occurred — look at the numbers that we've seen over the course of the last two days — it's a reaffirmation about the strength of college sports and the elasticity of it that even with pressure points within, the system continues to find its way forward in a very positive, meaningful way that is still heavily connected to the population that loves college sports."
