Sankey: School Rep. Brought Up Joining SEC As Recently As Last Week

The commissioner did not reveal which school called, but he said he often hears from programs about potentially joining the conference.

With widespread realignment altering the landscape of college sports, the SEC has emerged as perhaps the most powerful conference. Commissioner Greg Sankey admitted on the Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday that schools continue to ask the conference about potentially joining.

He said often presidents of certain universities, none of which he named, call and end the conversation by hinting that they would be interested in joining the SEC at some point.

The most recent phone call he received regarding joining the SEC came last week, although Sankey didn’t reveal what school it was.

“Different folks [saying] ‘Hey, how ya doing? If you ever think about it, keep us in mind,’ which is a compliment,” Sankey said. “We’re not out on the recruiting trail. We’re not looking to go beyond 16. There’s not some magic number.”

The SEC will see Oklahoma and Texas join in 2025. Then after UCLA and USC announced their intent the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten on June 30, other schools may have begun consideration into merging into one of the two biggest conferences.

At SEC’s media days in mid-July, Sankey said that the conference was in no rush to add any additional schools at this time despite the Big Ten news.

“This keeps the SEC in contiguous states, which reflects a reasonable geography and like-minded universities,” Sankey said of the addition of Oklahoma and Texas at SEC media days, per The Athletic. “There’s no sense of urgency in our league. No panic in reaction to others’ actions. We know who we are.”

He reiterated on Tuesday’s appearance that the conference is “confident” in itself right now.

“We’re confident and comfortable in the decisions we’ve made so far,” Sankey said.