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SEC commish would’ve loved to have been ‘sequenced up’ with other conferences in decision-making process
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The ACC, Big 12 and SEC were consistent in their push for a fall football season. The B1G and Pac-12 obviously had different plans — the B1G becoming the first Power 5 league to postpone on Aug. 11, followed a few hours later by the Pac-12.
Now, the B1G is making a return to a fall season and the Pac-12 is reconsidering its options, as well. It seems like all of the chaos could’ve been avoided — at least on some level — if the five leagues all worked together during this process.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said as much in a recent interview with Paul Finebaum.
“I’m happy for their student-athletes,” Sankey said. “The level of public statement, the level of I think outreach you saw … seeing them have the ability to play, good for those young people. I felt the responsibility to support those opportunities throughout the summer. We all arrive at different decisions. If we re-wound the clock, I would love to have all been sequenced up. That’s not reality and so it was pretty clear to me we were gonna have to make decisions. I was not ready to pull the plug on the fall season back in late July, early August.”
The ACC and Big 12 seasons got underway last weekend and the SEC is set to start its 2020 season on Sept. 26. The B1G announced it will be kicking off its campaign the weekend of Oct. 23-24.
The NCAA took a hands-off approach to the college football season at the FBS level, allowing each conference to work independently. Moving forward, it would probably be in the best interest for all 10 leagues to work together, rather than operate on an individual basis.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB