Greg Sankey: Adding Texas, Oklahoma was 'very wise' in hindsight

The SEC’s decision to poach Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 was a shocking move during the summer of 2021. In 2023, it’s the new norm to skip town in favor of the shiny new conference with a massive television deal.

After the entirety of college football’s landscape reshaped itself over the next two years following the SEC’s move — conference commissioner Greg Sankey revealed that 2021 wasn’t the first time he had considered realignment in the past.

“If you go back to Oct. 2015, around this time eight years ago, we had a presidents and chancellors meeting,” Sankey told Paul Finebaum on Thursday.” My training wheels were off, I was the commissioner and it was the first time I was in that role … One of the things I identified was what we had seen during the preceding 10 years with conference movement — and if you go back to around 2003 with ACC expansion, Big Ten expansion, the Pac-12’s expansion and effort to move to 16 [teams] — there wasn’t an indication it was going to stop.

“So while it was a stressful time going into the summer of 2021, it wasn’t the first time that we had conversations about movement. The reality is that I think our decision-making in 2021 has proven to be very wise, really well-informed and forward-looking for [the SEC] to be a 16-team conference with by far the best geography among any of the bowl subdivision conferences.”

During SEC Media Days this offseason, Sankey was asked whether or not he was open to the possibility of further expansion past Texas and Oklahoma. Sankey didn’t exactly say no, and he isn’t saying no now, either.

“We’re going to continue to pay attention to what continues to happen around us and we’ll be prepared,” Sankey said. “We’re not recruiters but we certainly are aware.”

That means while it’s not out of the realm of possibilities, this is something that is definetely not at the forefront of the commissioner’s mind — especially since the Longhorns and Sooners have yet to join the SEC’s ranks. After that, however, Sankey has made no promises.

What will be, however, is the 2023 Red River Rivalry this weekend Texas and OU. He is planning to be in attendance, stating that he wanted to experience that game in person and wanted to be back inside the Cotton Bowl stadium before the rivalry transitions to his neck of the woods.