SEC Commissioner Sankey Won't Do What Nobody Thought He Would

Leaves plenty of openings over future league expansion, but expect schedule changes for 2026 season

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey talks during a press conference before a celebration for OU joining the SEC in Norman, Okla., Monday, July 1, 2024. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Lost in all the speculation about future expansion, nobody is particularly noting what is probably going to be a change in the schedule. Get ready.

While a lot of people were expecting it, the SEC will likely expand to a 9-game conference schedule for the 2026 season. That could create interesting twists and turns for Arkansas going forward.

"I pay attention, but I'm not recruiting," Sankey said last week.

Considering practically nobody in attendance at the SEC Football Kickoff last week in Dallas thought the league would have to recruit anyone, that was unusual. The guess is they would simply have to decide who they wanted, and implement it.

But a question looms that didn't get a lot of attention at the microphone, but has been discussed routinely. They've been trying to work out the kinks on a 9-game conference schedule for football.

That will probably happen in 2026. Coaches probably don't really want it, but that expansion would put the SEC in the closest position to the NFL model they appear to be chasing.

Every league game would be a toss-up.

Just take the current Razorbacks' schedule. Imagine adding Georgia, Alabama or Oklahoma on top of what they are playing now.

Put those three down for 2026 by the way, along with Texas, Missouri and Ole Miss. That will be fun.

If ESPN had sweetened the TV money, there would already be a nine-game schedule. As usual, dollars and lack of sense will dominate the whole idea.

It's been clear for about a decade now the long-range play for the folks running the league is a junior varsity version of the NFL, which is clearly No. 1. College football isn't even close, despite its perception of importance and popularity in the South.

Get ready for divisions, too. That's another area where money may jump into the picture.

It's not about football, but paying for trips for sports that rely on football to fund their events. It would be a lot more affordable for the volleyball team to get to games in Norman, Okla. and Columbia, Mo., than Athens, Ga., or Gainesville, Fla.

Sankey simply doesn't have to recruit teams to the SEC. Oh, there will be conversations with somebody like Notre Dame if it wants to join a league.

That will probably be something brokered with the Big Ten. Everybody will also be watching the Big 12 while the ACC battles lawsuits that could determine its fate.

No one thinks Sankey has to recruit schools. It would be surprising to find out he can't just pick any school he wanted if given the approval to do so.

If he does bring in a couple of teams, the schedule has been left open from a formatting standpoint after 2025 to easily accommodate whichever schools join the party. The league office has likely had a couple of guys working on those logistics for a couple of years now for whatever make-up the SEC has in 2026.

What things will look like then is fluid. Only Sankey truly has all the facts and those change by the day.

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