ORLANDO, Fla. — On Monday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey stirred speculation about his conference’s future in the NCAA. On Thursday, NCAA president Charlie Baker didn’t sound too worried.
“I tend to believe what I hear from people when I speak to them directly,” Baker said Thursday during the Big 12 spring meetings at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando.
Speaking from the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla., earlier this week, Sankey said, “I have people in my room asking, ‘Why are we still in the NCAA?’”
As the NCAA determines which voices should get the most power at the table, the SEC is seeking more authority than the governance proposal, which would give 65 percent of NCAA decision-making power to the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.
Sankey, for what it’s worth, also pointed out that any concerns his members have had with the NCAA haven’t kept teams from accepting invitations to its national basketball or golf tournaments. That line suggests that fears of an SEC secession are premature but still worth hearing.
“Their voice matters a great deal in part because they take college sports seriously and play at a very high level, just like the Big 12 does and just like many others do…” Baker said. “But I think there’s a path forward here where we can figure out a way to keep everybody in a place where they’re comfortable that they’re both being heard and having the opportunity to play and compete.”
Baker was also asked about two other notable topics during an informal media session with reporters.
NCAA Tournament expansion
Baker said the NCAA has had “good conversations” with TV partners CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery about adding teams to the men’s basketball tournament. The current 68-team field could grow to either 72 or 76 teams as soon as next year.
“I think our goal here is to try to sort of either get to yes or no sometime in the next few months because there’s a lot of logistical work that would be associated with doing this if we were to go down this road,” Baker said.
The debate over tournament expansion has lingered for months. Baker’s case for a larger field centers on balancing the need to include teams that win their conference tournament without snubbing at-large teams that are among the nation’s best 68. He cited the 2023-24 Indiana State team that went 26-5 in the regular season but went to the NIT after losing to Drake in the final of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
“It’s a way to get them in,” Baker said.
Presidential commission
Baker said he has not heard much about a presidential commission on college sports since plans fizzled last week. The idea was to have a group led by former Alabama coach Nick Saban and Texas Tech board of regents chair Cody Campbell explore issues like name, image and likeness and the transfer portal with an eye toward potential solutions from the White House or Congress.
“We’ve done a bunch of things that were important to Washington with respect to some of their issues with us,” Baker said, highlighting changes like post-eligibility health insurance and more access to mental health services. “And I think we’ve seen enough, especially in the sort of burgeoning state law space, to be able to make a pretty compelling case about state preemption and some of the other issues we’re dealing with. From my point of view, as many voices at the table works for me. I think these issues are important, and they certainly matter a lot to schools and to kids and to college sports.”
(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
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