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The college football landscape has undergone some drastic changes over the past few years, and there’s plenty of speculation another dramatic paradigm shift could be in store in the form of the creation of a “super league.” However, one notable name has downplayed that potential development in the form of SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
There are theoretically 134 FBS teams that are in the running to win a national championship every season, but the vast majority of those programs head into each campaign knowing there’s virtually no chance they’ll be competing for a title when everything is said and done.
The College Football Playoff is attempting to up the intrigue a bit by expanding the postseason field to 12 teams this year, but it’s safe to assume the bulk of those slots will end up being reserved for college football teams that have historically held their own against top talent and raked in plenty of money for their school in the process.
There aren’t many conferences with more squads that fit that particular bill than the SEC, which is in a prime position to influence the ongoing evolution of the sport thanks to its status and prestige.
There’s little doubt teams that currently belong to the SEC would be incredibly well-represented in the “super league” that’s been a hot topic of conversation in the past couple of years; every member was featured in the leaked proposal that surfaced earlier this month that revolved around an overhaul that would regroup 70 teams in 10 different conferences.
That document made the rounds a couple of weeks after an anonymous SEC coach asserted the conference wouldn’t even entertain the notion—a sentiment commissioner Greg Sankey echoed while chatting with the media on Wednesday.
According to ESPN, Sankey basically pulled an “Isn’t that cute?” while making it clear he’s not even entertaining the notion of a super league, saying:
“The fact that people have interest in throwing ideas out, that’s up to them. 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.”
As I alluded to above, there’s virtually zero chance any major change comes to college football without the support of the SEC, so it sounds like the super league is dead in the water unless something changes.