July 3, 2024 • 9 mins
SEC Commisioner Greg Sankey shared his thoughts on why Texas and OU are good fits for the SEC, the process of inviting them, the expansion to 16 teams, and the overall state of college athletics.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:18):
We're close to wrapping up today's program, the final program on the station this
week locally, that is, youcan still listen to Fox Sports Radio here
on the Zone, but nothing locallytomorrow or Friday. At July fourth,
extended weekend begins. So for allthose listening, hope you get to get
some time off with the family,maybe get out the barbecue on the lake,
(00:43):
whatever, and enjoy a good weekend. I want to wrap up this
show with some audio from Greg Zankion Sunday, the SEC commissioner, who
of course played a massive role ingetting Texas in Oklahoma to join, kind
of had to lead get all theconferences or that all the other schools rather
(01:06):
behind the vote, which of coursehad to be unanimous, including Texas,
A and M, and they allall fourteen schools unisally voted to bring in
Oklahoma in Texas, which you know, with the money they're going to bring
in, makes a lot of sense. But Sankey on on Sunday at the
SEC celebration was asked about how hefeels that Texas and Oklahoma are officially members
(01:27):
of the Southeastern Conference. That justmeans more time that it's taken to get
to this point. It was almostthree years ago that we made the announcement.
I was on with Paul and whatI talked about was the most subdued,
like celebratory moment in the history ofcollege sports, and we wanted to
be orderly and respectful. That wasa message to me from the two university
(01:49):
presidents, moving from the Big twelveinto the SEC and here we are today
and tomorrow. So it took aboutthree years from the time that the news
dropped they were the Texan Oklahoma wereasking for an invitation to Whin. They
officially became members, so sink Hewas asked about his feeling when the deal
was officially done. Yeah, youknow, I don't know if I get
(02:12):
to take deep breaths much in life. We were reliving a little bit,
Chris and I. The week wehad media Days, there was a breaking
news story. The next day wehad on a Thursday call at presidents and
chancellors to update them. Previously,about seven weeks in early June, I
had kind of laid out the wholestatus that needed to be considered, whether
(02:32):
we go forward in conversations or whetherwe stop. Obviously, we went forward,
and then from that moment on Wednesdayat media days. Eight days later
when we had a president's call ourthird and eight days was probably a relief
moment. But then you issue aninvitation. And I had not spoken to
(02:54):
Olklomer in Texas for really a coupleof weeks during that time. So what's
the story, bro They had tomake a decision about the Big twelve.
I had been very candid that Ican't guarantee you the vote. You want
to be here. There's an interest, and there's going to be this time
of question, this time of risk. And obviously it played out to bring
(03:15):
us here today that our fourteen memberssaid we're going to extend the invitation.
Those two accepted, and here wego into a new chapter for the Southeastern
Conference. Now, I wonder ifros Pjork still is still at A and
M. What happens? Probably Texasand Oklahoma still or extended invitation is because
(03:36):
of the amount of revenue that they'regoing to bring into this conference. But
remember when the article first came out, the news that texts know you were
looking for a bid to join theSEC. Ros Pyork and TEXTA, A
and M were very adamant that theywanted to be the only Texas based school
in the Southeastern Conference, but thenot last text is now officially in the
(03:57):
SEC. So with all this comFrench realignment, it's not just affected the
Big twelve in the SEC, ofcourse, the PAC twelve and the Big
Ten, which this year will havenew members including Oregon in USC, in
UCLA in Washington. It's going tobe a completely different conference in you know,
if you look at the fit youalso have Stanford and cal going to
(04:20):
the ACC. Do those schools reallymake a great fit for those for those
conferences? Well maybe not, butin the case for the SEC, Sank
he believes that Texas and Oklahoma do. It does And it goes back to
an athletic director's conversation Scott Strickland atFlorida. I think we were talking generally
(04:40):
about potential new members years ago andhe said, you need to apply to
it just means more tests. Soon a campus and in an athletic department
and university does what they do asan athletic program meet that kind of expectation
that we have. Yeah, andobviously they do. And I had been
told a number of people on Fridaywhen I too this footprint, I think
we've exceeded that number. It's interestingto travel the country and I hear from
(05:06):
fans of the University of Texas UniversityOklahoma about their excitement. When I was
on an airplane in Syracuse, NewYork two weeks ago with a Gator fan
and a Georgia fan saying that they'reexcited about the future because they both play
Texas this year. So I thinkthat's the reflection of meeting that excitement test.
And so now the SEC is sixteenteams, which is a huge number
(05:31):
for conference. Remember when it wasjust a Big eight and then Big twelve
and now the SEC sixteen teams asthey expand. So Sankie was asked about
this expansion and what does it meanfor their conference going forward. It's been
a lot of work and we've hadto stay grounded in who we are.
(05:53):
The expectation was we're growing to sixteen, but we need to operate the team
of fourteen or should be a leadof fourteen members. We obviously have a
lot happening around us. We've talkedhad nauseing them about legal issues or state
legislative issues or congressional issues. Sowe've had to operate and then we've had
to prepare. I think we've donea great job preparing across the board for
(06:15):
our sports. When we launch volleyballseason, Texas plays Texas A and M
and a match right off the bat. You look at our eight team decision,
but the strength of what's happening.There's an F one car here featuring
the Georgia Texas game in October.Only place on the planet Earth where it'll
be a college football game at thehighest level and an F one race happening.
(06:38):
So that's pretty cool. And you'vehad to prepare for those moments,
had to adapt. We're still inconversation about the future ail football schedule for
twenty four to twenty five. We'relooking at twenty six and beyond. At
this university, they've had to prepare. Our teams have to prepare for visiting
new cities Oklahoma and Texas have toprepare for visiting new places that are just
(06:59):
wonderful places in the Southeastern Conference butintentionally competitive. And so all of that's
been what's in the work and themeaning and the preparation and the planning,
and you know there'll be gaps oradjustments and we'll have to adapt as we
go. A little bit as well. The college football landscape and all of
college athletics really looks so much drasticallydifferent than it did even just a few
(07:21):
years ago, even from when sarkfirst took over as the head football coach
at TEXT, even when Chris Docntewas hired from TCU. All this realignment
and changes and now of course thenil in the transfer portal have added a
new wrinkle to college athletics. Andwhat will that look like in the next
few years. We don't know.Lawsuits are abundant. Of course, the
(07:45):
House first NCAA lawsuit was settled.As we're trying to get that done.
We're past college athletes we'll get compensationin future, and current college athletes we'll
get compensation. But we still don'tknow what that will look like, if
state legislation will get involved, well, federal legislation get involved. All of
these issues, all these questions yetunanswered. So when asked about the state
(08:07):
of college football, Greg Sanki seemsmore optimistic than some of us. I
actually think it's phenomenal, and likeall this noise about private equity wants to
buy into college athletics, that sayswe're doing so much right it's not like
they have to come in and solveour problems. We have a responsibility to
keep working on our problems. AndI think it's naive to think. I
(08:31):
think it's naive for people to thinkor suggest there's some simple set of solutions.
You look at the complexity of theNFL face with an anti trust lawsuit
verdict last week. That's reflective ofwhat's happening around us from a litigation standpoint.
I'm incredibly excited about our future.Look at what happened in Omaha.
The A M and the Tennessee fanshave filled that place up and man,
(08:52):
it was intense. You go backand look at spring meetings, Auburn won
a men's golf championship, Texas andOklahoma played for the women's College where series.
We won both track and field championshipsArkansas, Florida, and then what
happened in Omaha with Tennessee and Texas, A and M competing, of the
volunteers winning. That's who we areand it's only going to improve from here.
That doesn't mean it's easy, thatdoesn't mean you can become complacent.
(09:15):
We have to challenge ourselves. Ithink we have this celebration. It's July
fourth week. We light off afew more fireworks. You turn the page.
We get back to work and we'llsee you in Dallas for the first
time in SEC Football Media is andwe'll be up there for that as well
next week or tsue me two weekslive from the SEC Media Days, myself
and Craig Why also my charge fromthe Hard Knox Live. It just means
(09:39):
more, Andrew, it just meansmore. We'll close out today's show after
this year on AM Sports Radio thirteenhundred Zone
We're close to wrapping up today's program, the final program on the station this
week locally, that is, youcan still listen to Fox Sports Radio here
on the Zone, but nothing locallytomorrow or Friday. At July fourth,
extended weekend begins. So for allthose listening, hope you get to get
some time off with the family,maybe get out the barbecue on the lake,
(00:43):
whatever, and enjoy a good weekend. I want to wrap up this
show with some audio from Greg Zankion Sunday, the SEC commissioner, who
of course played a massive role ingetting Texas in Oklahoma to join, kind
of had to lead get all theconferences or that all the other schools rather
(01:06):
behind the vote, which of coursehad to be unanimous, including Texas,
A and M, and they allall fourteen schools unisally voted to bring in
Oklahoma in Texas, which you know, with the money they're going to bring
in, makes a lot of sense. But Sankey on on Sunday at the
SEC celebration was asked about how hefeels that Texas and Oklahoma are officially members
(01:27):
of the Southeastern Conference. That justmeans more time that it's taken to get
to this point. It was almostthree years ago that we made the announcement.
I was on with Paul and whatI talked about was the most subdued,
like celebratory moment in the history ofcollege sports, and we wanted to
be orderly and respectful. That wasa message to me from the two university
(01:49):
presidents, moving from the Big twelveinto the SEC and here we are today
and tomorrow. So it took aboutthree years from the time that the news
dropped they were the Texan Oklahoma wereasking for an invitation to Whin. They
officially became members, so sink Hewas asked about his feeling when the deal
was officially done. Yeah, youknow, I don't know if I get
(02:12):
to take deep breaths much in life. We were reliving a little bit,
Chris and I. The week wehad media Days, there was a breaking
news story. The next day wehad on a Thursday call at presidents and
chancellors to update them. Previously,about seven weeks in early June, I
had kind of laid out the wholestatus that needed to be considered, whether
(02:32):
we go forward in conversations or whetherwe stop. Obviously, we went forward,
and then from that moment on Wednesdayat media days. Eight days later
when we had a president's call ourthird and eight days was probably a relief
moment. But then you issue aninvitation. And I had not spoken to
(02:54):
Olklomer in Texas for really a coupleof weeks during that time. So what's
the story, bro They had tomake a decision about the Big twelve.
I had been very candid that Ican't guarantee you the vote. You want
to be here. There's an interest, and there's going to be this time
of question, this time of risk. And obviously it played out to bring
(03:15):
us here today that our fourteen memberssaid we're going to extend the invitation.
Those two accepted, and here wego into a new chapter for the Southeastern
Conference. Now, I wonder ifros Pjork still is still at A and
M. What happens? Probably Texasand Oklahoma still or extended invitation is because
(03:36):
of the amount of revenue that they'regoing to bring into this conference. But
remember when the article first came out, the news that texts know you were
looking for a bid to join theSEC. Ros Pyork and TEXTA, A
and M were very adamant that theywanted to be the only Texas based school
in the Southeastern Conference, but thenot last text is now officially in the
(03:57):
SEC. So with all this comFrench realignment, it's not just affected the
Big twelve in the SEC, ofcourse, the PAC twelve and the Big
Ten, which this year will havenew members including Oregon in USC, in
UCLA in Washington. It's going tobe a completely different conference in you know,
if you look at the fit youalso have Stanford and cal going to
(04:20):
the ACC. Do those schools reallymake a great fit for those for those
conferences? Well maybe not, butin the case for the SEC, Sank
he believes that Texas and Oklahoma do. It does And it goes back to
an athletic director's conversation Scott Strickland atFlorida. I think we were talking generally
(04:40):
about potential new members years ago andhe said, you need to apply to
it just means more tests. Soon a campus and in an athletic department
and university does what they do asan athletic program meet that kind of expectation
that we have. Yeah, andobviously they do. And I had been
told a number of people on Fridaywhen I too this footprint, I think
we've exceeded that number. It's interestingto travel the country and I hear from
(05:06):
fans of the University of Texas UniversityOklahoma about their excitement. When I was
on an airplane in Syracuse, NewYork two weeks ago with a Gator fan
and a Georgia fan saying that they'reexcited about the future because they both play
Texas this year. So I thinkthat's the reflection of meeting that excitement test.
And so now the SEC is sixteenteams, which is a huge number
(05:31):
for conference. Remember when it wasjust a Big eight and then Big twelve
and now the SEC sixteen teams asthey expand. So Sankie was asked about
this expansion and what does it meanfor their conference going forward. It's been
a lot of work and we've hadto stay grounded in who we are.
(05:53):
The expectation was we're growing to sixteen, but we need to operate the team
of fourteen or should be a leadof fourteen members. We obviously have a
lot happening around us. We've talkedhad nauseing them about legal issues or state
legislative issues or congressional issues. Sowe've had to operate and then we've had
to prepare. I think we've donea great job preparing across the board for
(06:15):
our sports. When we launch volleyballseason, Texas plays Texas A and M
and a match right off the bat. You look at our eight team decision,
but the strength of what's happening.There's an F one car here featuring
the Georgia Texas game in October.Only place on the planet Earth where it'll
be a college football game at thehighest level and an F one race happening.
(06:38):
So that's pretty cool. And you'vehad to prepare for those moments,
had to adapt. We're still inconversation about the future ail football schedule for
twenty four to twenty five. We'relooking at twenty six and beyond. At
this university, they've had to prepare. Our teams have to prepare for visiting
new cities Oklahoma and Texas have toprepare for visiting new places that are just
(06:59):
wonderful places in the Southeastern Conference butintentionally competitive. And so all of that's
been what's in the work and themeaning and the preparation and the planning,
and you know there'll be gaps oradjustments and we'll have to adapt as we
go. A little bit as well. The college football landscape and all of
college athletics really looks so much drasticallydifferent than it did even just a few
(07:21):
years ago, even from when sarkfirst took over as the head football coach
at TEXT, even when Chris Docntewas hired from TCU. All this realignment
and changes and now of course thenil in the transfer portal have added a
new wrinkle to college athletics. Andwhat will that look like in the next
few years. We don't know.Lawsuits are abundant. Of course, the
(07:45):
House first NCAA lawsuit was settled.As we're trying to get that done.
We're past college athletes we'll get compensationin future, and current college athletes we'll
get compensation. But we still don'tknow what that will look like, if
state legislation will get involved, well, federal legislation get involved. All of
these issues, all these questions yetunanswered. So when asked about the state
(08:07):
of college football, Greg Sanki seemsmore optimistic than some of us. I
actually think it's phenomenal, and likeall this noise about private equity wants to
buy into college athletics, that sayswe're doing so much right it's not like
they have to come in and solveour problems. We have a responsibility to
keep working on our problems. AndI think it's naive to think. I
(08:31):
think it's naive for people to thinkor suggest there's some simple set of solutions.
You look at the complexity of theNFL face with an anti trust lawsuit
verdict last week. That's reflective ofwhat's happening around us from a litigation standpoint.
I'm incredibly excited about our future.Look at what happened in Omaha.
The A M and the Tennessee fanshave filled that place up and man,
(08:52):
it was intense. You go backand look at spring meetings, Auburn won
a men's golf championship, Texas andOklahoma played for the women's College where series.
We won both track and field championshipsArkansas, Florida, and then what
happened in Omaha with Tennessee and Texas, A and M competing, of the
volunteers winning. That's who we areand it's only going to improve from here.
That doesn't mean it's easy, thatdoesn't mean you can become complacent.
(09:15):
We have to challenge ourselves. Ithink we have this celebration. It's July
fourth week. We light off afew more fireworks. You turn the page.
We get back to work and we'llsee you in Dallas for the first
time in SEC Football Media is andwe'll be up there for that as well
next week or tsue me two weekslive from the SEC Media Days, myself
and Craig Why also my charge fromthe Hard Knox Live. It just means
(09:39):
more, Andrew, it just meansmore. We'll close out today's show after
this year on AM Sports Radio thirteenhundred Zone
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