Greg Sankey reveals his stance on ongoing conversations about NCAA Tournament expansion

Greg Sankey has made his stance crystal clear on the ongoing conversations regarding possible expansion of the NCAA Tournament.

The SEC Commissioner is for it, and he believes the competition level has grown to such a point where 68 teams simply isn’t enough. Joining the crew on SEC Now, Sankey explained his stance, including using Texas A&M missing last season’s dance as an example.

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“What I’ve been through is a set on conversations at the national level, about being fearful through this NCAA transformation process that things would be taken away. My advocacy was, rather than worrying about taking things away, why don’t we take a step back and think about how we grow?” explained Sankey. “The division’s grown over time. The number of members, the quality of basketball, the commitment that I’ve talked about here, the expectations that are upon any number of programs nationally. So, why don’t we facilitate those opportunities?

“It’s informed by the fact that I think [Texas] A&M was playing as well as anyone in men’s basketball last March and didn’t have access. Then you look at baseball, where Ole Miss is recognized as the last team in, and then is of such competitive quality that it wins a national championship. It opens your mind to say, are we leaving some of these teams in a bandwidth of maybe the top 50 out, from a net standpoint? That should be looked at differently.”

Continuing, Sankey added that he simply believes that if it’s done the correct way, creating more “access points” for programs to reach the NCAA Tournament could never be a bad thing.

“It’s interesting to see other’s comment about numbers and more specifics. My comment’s conceptual. I think it’s time. I’ll go to the women’s side, Missouri defeated South Carolina, who goes on and wins a national championship. That was in January. They didn’t access the NCAA Tournament.

“So I think there’s ways for us to think about creating access points that could bring more people in to the game, which I always think can be healthy, if it’s done the right way.”

Alas, Greg Sankey makes multiple solid points in advocating for the expansion of the NCAA Tournament. One of the most powerful voices in college sports — if not the most powerful voice in college sports — time will tell if Sankey gets his way in the near future, or if the NCAA Tournament remains steadfast in the same structure.