Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Greg Sankey, stood at the podium at SEC Media Days in Tampa on Monday and said something that sent shockwaves through college sports. The breakaway conversations are real.

He was asked directly whether discussions about the SEC potentially separating from the current NCAA model were genuine or just leverage.

"They're real," Sankey said in the press conference, per SEC Sports. "People have talked about that. They've opined about the frustrations that bring them to the point of saying we should look at something significantly different," per SEC Sports.

This statement is the most direct confirmation anyone in a position of real power has given on this topic. It's not a rumor from an anonymous source. It's the SEC commissioner saying it out loud at one of college football's biggest annual events.

The frustration behind those conversations has been building for months. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart first raised the idea publicly back in May, suggesting SEC programs might need to distance themselves from the NCAA if the current environment doesn't change.

Sankey was also clear this is not a bluff. The breakaway talk is not a negotiating chip aimed at Congress. The frustrations are real.

That matters. It means the SEC is not posturing. Something is genuinely broken in how college athletics is being run, and Sankey is saying it out loud.

"I also know the pride with which I spoke of 13 national championships," Sankey said in the press conference, per SEC Sports. "There is meaning and value, and I do think a national expectation that we participate in a national organization."

Sankey meant that while the SEC is powerful, competing within a unified national governing body like the NCAA still holds deep value and pride for the conference.

So the SEC isn't heading for the exits tomorrow. But Sankey made clear what keeps them in.

"That national organization must function in a healthy manner. Otherwise, that simmering will continue," he said, per SEC Sports.

With 16 member schools, the SEC would have enough programs to run its own postseason structure if it came to that, whether a four-team or eight-team format following a 12-game regular season. No formal plan is on the table yet.

The Protect College Sports Act is the key variable in whether the SEC stays or goes

What the SEC does next depends heavily on Congress. The Protect College Sports Act is the bill everyone is watching.

It is bipartisan and has real support. But the SEC and Big Ten both have problems with parts of it. Pooling media rights nationally is something the SEC simply will not agree to, per Tiger Rag.

"We support the effort behind the Protect College Sports Act," Sankey said, per SEC Sports. "However, we believe changes to the act are necessary to make it most effective, and the changes we've suggested are both achievable and reasonable."

So the SEC is not against the bill. They just want it rewritten first. Pass it as is and the SEC leaves angry. Remove it entirely, and nothing changes for anyone. Sankey does not win either way.

Do you think the SEC will eventually break away from the NCAA if things don't change? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi