The SEC is prepared to go its own way on eligibility and other rules if necessary, commissioner Greg Sankey acknowledged Monday in an interview on the SEC Network.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the \u201cPaul Finebaum Show,\u201d Sankey said, \u201cThere is great frustration in my league that we\u2019ve not been able to work collaboratively through some of the challenges or opportunities that we face. There\u2019s great frustration that as we go through the economic transition with our student-athletes, we haven\u2019t better defined the boundaries and the guardrails, and help people to those, and we have a responsibility in that. So I\u2019m not just casting blame. That\u2019s part of us solving problems and I think properly, that\u2019s where our focus should be. How do we work with colleagues to solve problems? Can we do that collectively?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sankey emphasized that his\u00a0first priority remains getting national standards that work for everyone, either through Congressional action or something else. But if that fails, the 16-team conference would be willing to adopt its own off-field rules, while still competing on the field against the rest of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s a point at which we cannot do so, I think the conversation that informs the question that you ask, is there something you do alone? I think that starts to generate more and more interest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sankey stopped short of saying the SEC should just make up its own rules, an opinion that has gained ground within the conference, including recent comments by Georgia president Jere Morehead<\/a>. But the commissioner himself giving voice to the possibility is noteworthy.<\/p>\n What would be the tipping point? Sankey called that \u201cundefined.\u201d He also said his preference is not to \u201cgo our own way,\u201d quoting the Fleetwood Mac song from the 1970s. Sankey said that relationships with the rest of the sport are important, citing basketball\u2019s NCAA Tournament and competition in general. So he made clear that\u2019s not what separating would entail.<\/p>\n \u201cI know in the Southeastern Conference, we\u2019re prepared, and we\u2019ll have some of the conversations about a framework that we\u2019re in the context of national competition, but what are the right policies?\u201d Sankey said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s eligibility policies, whether it\u2019s transfer policies that need to work within this conference.\u201d<\/p>\n