SEC Spring Meetings conclude without football schedule change; new basketball format approved

After a week of discussions in Destin, Southeastern Conference officials will leave this year’s SEC Spring Meetings without a new football scheduling format.

Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger reports the conference remains at a deadlock, split on an 8-game (1 permanent + 7 rotational) vs 9-game scheduling model (3+6). Eliminating divisions and moving to nine games was the leader in the clubhouse, until Kentucky made some momentum to preserve the 8-game schedule. The uncertainty surrounding TV revenue and CFB Playoff expansion are the two primary sticking points.

“We have more work to do,” Greg Sankey tells SI. “Narrowed it down to a couple of options. You never know what (else) could emerge.”

The SEC commissioner also added that there could be some movement later this summer or in the fall. The conference has time to remain patient. Texas and Oklahoma will not join the SEC until 2025, the final year of the current CFB Playoff contract.

Two years of expansion discussions went down the tube this spring when The Alliance dug in its heels on a 12-team format. Mark Keenum, the chair of the CFP Board of Managers and Mississippi State president, is hopeful expansion talks will resume and a new agreement can be in place by the summer of 2023. The next round of negotiations will be anchored around a 12-team playoff. Keenum tells SI he believes 10 of the 11 CFB members would support an expansion model. However, that’s easy to say now before they all start hammering out details at the negotiating table.

Slight Change in SEC Basketball Schedule

The conference could not reach an agreement on the football format, but they did reach a conclusion in men’s and women’s basketball. Under the current format the Kentucky men’s basketball team plays Florida, Vanderbilt and Tennessee home and away each season, rotating either home or away between the rest of the opponents.

When Texas and Oklahoma join for the 2025-26 season, the three permanent opponents will drop to just two. Additionally, one opponent will rotate annually home and away, plus the 12 remaining teams in single contests either home or away, for a total of 18 conference games. All 16 teams will compete in the SEC Tournament, adding two additional games on the first day of the tournament in Nashville.

In women’s basketball each team will play one rotating opponent home and away, plus the 14 remaining teams in single contests either home or away, for a total of 16 conference games. Like the men, all 16 teams will compete in the SEC Tournament, just with two more games on the opening day. The conference also approved schedule changes in softball, soccer, men’s and women’s tennis.