The NCAA, despite being the body that governs college football, has proven quite powerless in recent years. Rocked with eligibility lawsuits, NIL chaos, playoff bracket confusion, and so much more, it might be pushing some figures to remove themselves from the equation. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said that such a mood is very much present in his league.
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“I’ve acknowledged there are those who have said we should go our own way…I think there’s a reality in expressing that frustration,” Sankey revealed on The Paul Finebaum Show. The SEC breaking away from the NCAA has long been whispered about in the college football community, considering the power and dominance it already exerts. The league hosts some of the most premier schools and lucrative media rights packages. The SEC, in theory, can exist as a self-sustaining body. The 16-team conference could craft its own off-field rules while still lining up against the rest of the country on game day.
In June 2025, during inter-conference meetings, Sankey himself said that the SEC members had asked him why they were still with the NCAA. According to the reports, the SEC distributed a record total of $1.03 billion to its 16 member schools for the 2024-25 fiscal year. So, going by the average, each member received $72.4 million. Financially, the league is well off on its own. Plus, the NCAA can’t do anything to prevent the SEC from leaving, as membership is voluntary.
The final ruling on the NCAA vs. Yeo case (2003) outlines this very possible reality. Late Texas Judge Mack Kidd wrote in his judgment, “the NCAA has no direct procedural power to enforce its rules on individuals,” and members “reserve the right to secede from the NCAA and establish their own eligibility standards.”
NEW: SEC commissioner Greg Sankey acknowledges some members want to break away from the NCAA: “I’ve acknowledged there are those who have said we should go our own way. I don’t think that’s the right decision. We have relationships and responsibilities within Division I.” (via Show more
However, Greg Sankey made it clear on the Paul Finebaum Show that moving out is not “the right decision.” He acknowledged that the league is tired of not having any guardrails when it comes to athlete compensation. The House Settlement was just one step, but it did very little to clean up the mess that NIL continues to create today. Big schools went berserk during the transfer portal, forcing the NCAA to finally consider punishments for tampering. To help mitigate this crisis, the commissionener instead proposed collective action.