College football realignment: SEC boss updates expansion plans

The SEC helped kick off the latest college football realignment.

The SEC helped kick off the latest phase of college football realignment, but hearing commissioner Greg Sankey talk, it looks like the conference is happy as is.

Sankey opened the 2022 SEC Media Days by addressing the latest expansion, saying the SEC has no immediate plans to add any more schools.

But that doesn't mean business can't be done if the situation is right.

Where the SEC stands in college football realignment

"We're attentive. We're engaged in conversation," Sankey said. 

"We're really looking forward to expansion to 16 teams. We don't feel pressure to operate at a number. We'll watch what happens around us. We'll be thoughtful but be nimble."

Football blue-bloods Texas and Oklahoma applied for SEC membership last offseason, a bombshell move that forever changed the face of college football.

And there are plenty of other schools that are interested in joining the conference.

"The great news for the SEC is you're doing something very special and you get calls (from other schools) and they hint around the edges," Sankey said of other schools' interest. "We'll watch what happens around us. Be thoughtful, but be nimble."

The SEC - and college football itself - will look different going forward / USA Today Images

The latest craze in realignment and expansion will make college football a different sport than it has been for a long time, but Sankey said that kind of change is a constant.

“Do we face headwinds in college sports? Absolutely. It’s actually not new," Sankey said.

"It’s a decades-old problem, and those decades-old problems now rest firmly on our agendas. The SEC will not be complacent, even with the acknowledgement that we’re in a position of strength.”

Including on the field, where the SEC has won 12 of the last 16 national championships in college football.

And with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, is in a greater position to continue that dominance than ever before.

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