SEC Football: Scrapping divisions only real progress at SEC Spring Meeting

The Southeastern Conference did not have one of its best weeks with its Spring Meetings. The meetings are not designed solely for SEC football but that ‘big dog’ eats first.

As always SEC football dominated

Football, even without a Nick Saban – Jimbo Fisher feud, dominates the attention of the athletic directors and school presidents. A standard spring meeting does not include the school presidents, but they were in Destin at the end of the week. Supposedly they were in attendance because of votes that could significantly change the league’s future.

Some knowledgeable followers of the SEC expected votes to approve some momentous changes. If that was anyone’s intent, the meetings were a failure. The only apparent progress made was a consensus to do away with divisions when Texas and Oklahoma begin SEC play in 2025.

Greg Sankey said progress was made on a new scheduling format, but the progress was not concrete. As reported by Ross Dellenger, Sankey elaborated by saying,

"We have more work to do. Narrowed it down to a couple of options. You never know what (else) could emerge.The CFP is a factor."

Sankey also said there was “no certainty” the CFB Playoff format and schedule would be resolved in 2023.

We’ll add for Commissioner Sankey that there is no certainty the CFB Playoff will continue past its current contract that ends after the 2025 season.

But delay by the SEC in choosing between an 8-game, 1-and-7 schedule, and a 9-game, 3-and-6 schedule has nothing to do with the CFB Playoff.

Ivan Maisel, writing for On3 explained exactly why a vote was delayed.

"Staying at eight games is about the bottom half of the conference dictating to the top half"

Another addition can be added to Maisel’s summary – the bottom half needs to not make dictating to the top half a habit. Some of them could, in the future, find themselves following the path of college football irrelevancy already charted by the Pac 12.

Ivan Maisel is not one of sports journalism’s flame throwers. But he did not hold back in concluding his story with,

"… the SEC, doing what it does best, decided not to make a decision."

Maisel may not be completely right, but he is not wrong. At least some involved got some beach time.

Because it is the offseason, with collective bandwidth for all to spare, closing with a historical reference is indulged. The SEC’s flounderings bring to mind an often cited Winston Churchill quote, “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” The Churchill Project at Hillsdale College has never been able to authenticate the quote came from Churchill. Perhaps it can be borrowed and applied to the SEC.