Greg Sankey and the State of the Southeastern Conference

DALLAS, T.X., (PIG TRAIL NATION) – When SEC commissioner Greg Sankey took the podium on Monday morning at SEC Football Media Days, he was quick to point to why Dallas was this year’s host city and just as quick to make an Arkansas reference.

“We’re thrilled to be in a city where Dak is the quarterback, where the Dallas Mavericks made a run to the NBA Finals with a number of players from the SEC including Kentucky’s PJ Washington, and Arkansas’ Daniel Gafford.”

With the major theme of the week the conference’s expansion from 14 teams to 16 with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, Sankey wanted to celebrate the growth of the conference while keeping it’s regionality.

It’s been a crazy past two years of college athletics, let alone the unrest in America over the last 48 hours. While acknowledging that there are things that are not fun to bring up at a Sunday night family dinner, Sankey used his platform to remind those watching that sports are what brings different people together.

After all, it’s why there are over one hundred media members in Dallas in the first place.

The move west for the SEC Media Days did not happen overnight. As a matter of fact, it’s something that Sankey has been planning since 2018. Finally in 2024, the Metroplex is home to the newest SEC rivalry and media days.

“We know who we are, and the Southeastern Conference, we’re the one conference at this level where the name still means something.” Sankey told the media Monday morning. “When we expanded, we actually restored historic rivalries while adding only 100 miles to the longest campus-to-campus trip our students-athletes will experience.”

The SEC will see the return of old Southwest Conference rivalries including the Texas-Arkansas rivalry that dominated the 1960’s during the heydays of Frank Broyles and Darrell K. Royal.

Sankey told stories of living in Dallas when Nolan Richardson was coaching on the Hill. He finally got his first taste of the rivalry back in 2004, when the Horns beat the Hogs in Fayetteville. But it was the 2021 edition that really caught his eye, only a few weeks after Texas and Oklahoma were announced that they would be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

“The home crowd rushed the field, which we don’t want them to do,” Sankey joked in the electronic media room. “But man, it was a pretty special night and I think that presents the expectation for special nights with these rivalries.”

There’s a lot to be excited for when it comes to the 2024-2025 athletics calendar year, however questions on expansion, NIL, and legal expenses continue to loom. The only constant, at least in the Omni Hotel Ballroom, is that Sankey is focused on his 16 teams.

“Period.”