The future of college football, and college athletics in general, seems to constantly be up in the air as power brokers from the NCAA, athletic conferences, universities, and even Congress attempt to find a solution that will work for everyone, and by everyone, we mean the top 15-20 college football programs in America.<\/p>\n
Georgia Bulldogs head football coach Kirby Smart is very emphatic on that last part, as he believes that if the SEC can\u2019t figure out a way to get everyone on board with how they want things, they should just break off and do their own thing already.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve said this for a long time to our president, I\u2019ve been a huge advocate that if we can\u2019t find rules that everybody plays by, then we should play on our own,\u201d Smart\u00a0told reporters, per On3<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of that. I\u2019m not afraid to break away and say that our conference is strong enough to go out and play.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we could actually function financially, it would make our programs more stable. We could support things financially. I\u2019m talking about all the sports and do our own rules \u2013 I\u2019d be all for that.\u201d<\/p>\n NEW: Georgia\u2019s Kirby Smart on the SEC breaking away if national rules can\u2019t be agreed upon:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said this for a long time to our president, I\u2019ve been a huge advocate that if we can\u2019t find rules that everybody plays by, then we should play on our own. I\u2019m not afraid of that.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/wH0QfRmpue<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 On3 (@On3) May 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n College football, specifically, finds itself at a crossroads. The gap between the haves and have-nots keeps expanding. NIL has changed the equation. Transfer rules have essentially created free agency. Enforcement of rules seems as lax as ever. And that\u2019s to say nothing of the ongoing conversations around College Football Playoff expansion and the SEC-Big Ten push-pull that everyone else is caught in the orbit of. Not to mention that whatever Congress and President Trump<\/a> are attempting to do by intervening<\/a> doesn\u2019t seem to be helping.<\/p>\n SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday night that he remains optimistic solutions can be found at the national level, but if not, conversations about \u201cconference-led\u201d efforts will be discussed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that we\u2019re talking about our own rules isn\u2019t anything new,\u201d Sankey said<\/a>. \u201cWhat you\u2019re hearing is the expression of frustration about the lack of progress, and I\u2019ll go back to March 6. I was in the White House, and I spoke about the need for national standards. We still believe we need national standards. If those can\u2019t be achieved, then we\u2019ll have to look at more conference-led regulation, but that\u2019s the reality we\u2019re facing.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s long been presumed that the endgame here is that the Big Ten and SEC expand a little more and then break off to remake college football (and other sports) in their image. There haven\u2019t been many solutions proposed to make that kind of move less appealing to those in charge.<\/p>\n \t