\u201cI\u2019ve been a huge advocate that if we can\u2019t find rules that everybody plays by, then we should play our own,\u201d Smart said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of that. I\u2019m not afraid to break away and say that our conference is strong enough to go out and play. If we could actually function financially, it would make our programs more stable. We could support things financially. I\u2019m talking about all the sports and do our own rules \u2014 I\u2019d be all for that.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s quite the statement. Smart was far from the only coach, athletic director or president entertaining this line of thought, too. <\/p>\n Georgia president Jere Morehead said the system is \u201cclose to anarchy,\u201d arguing a sentiment shared by many at the meetings who feel the Wild, Wild West approach to athlete compensation and transfer portal prevalence has reached an unsustainable level. <\/p>\n If this week\u2019s spring meetings told us anything, it\u2019s that the SEC appears unafraid to make a change if the league\u2019s members feel it\u2019s necessary. That could mean breaking away from the NCAA altogether or focusing on self-governance for rule-making and enforcement while remaining a member.<\/p>\n Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman, for example, is of the opinion that the SEC needs to start by focusing on itself if no congressional help is agreed upon soon. <\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing we start with is governing ourselves and not worry about what other leagues are doing and establish what we think is right,\u201d\u00a0Plowman told Yahoo! Sports<\/a> on Thursday. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid to look at collective bargaining. If we don\u2019t get help from Congress, that will be out there.\u201d <\/p>\n The \u201chelp from congress\u201d Plowman refers to most recently comes in the form of the Protect College Sports Act, revealed this week by Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell<\/a>. <\/p>\n The bill aims to provide much needed regulation by admitting student athletes one transfer per career, introducing the \u201cLane Kiffin<\/a> rule,\u201d which prohibits coaches from leaving or being hired during the regular season and many, many more proposals. Notably, among these proposals lies the option to pool media rights if 75% of 138 FBS schools agree.<\/p>\n The SEC, simply stated, is not a fan of that last idea. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s the statement SEC presidents and chancellors released regarding the proposal, which essentially says, \u201cwe appreciate any attempt to regulate this mess, but we\u2019re not turning our media rights over to a third-party.\u201d<\/p>\n While distributing the statement to reporters on-location, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey added<\/a>, \u201cThose who advocate [for pooling rights] have represented things to me about how revenue would be distributed generally, and I think they have no idea how hard those conversations would be. No idea.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. A 16-team CFP format remains the preference, but the league isn\u2019t in lockstep<\/p>\n Texas A&M<\/a> head coach Mike Elko<\/a> gave an answer that was surprisingly candid on Wednesday. I use the word \u201csurprisingly\u201d not to discredit Elko, but because his answer was so far from the typical response to the question.<\/p>\n When asked about his preference for College Football Playoff expansion, Elko replied by saying he\u2019d like to see the Playoff expand to 40 teams, because if that were the case he\u2019d never get fired. \u201cNone of us are answering for the good of the sport,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re answering for the good of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Keep that in mind when sorting through some of the stances from this week. <\/p>\n The Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC have all made it clear they prefer 24-team CFP expansion. Opinions around the SEC were varied. <\/p>\n For some, expansion is long overdue. <\/p>\n According to Florida<\/a> head coach Jon Sumrall<\/a>, some coaches reportedly felt misled<\/a> by the addition of an extra conference game when that 9-game schedule was not paired with expansion to a 16-team Playoff this year. Because of this, the SEC is almost certain to take a hit as 8 teams across the conference add a guaranteed loss in place of a near-guaranteed win from a non-conference buy game.<\/p>\n When meetings concluded on Thursday, Sankey told reporters no official decisions or votes were taken on CFP expansion. His comment reaffirmed a statement he made on Wednesday<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cNo decisions have been made, so we default to where we\u2019ve been, which is 16.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Sankey: \u2018This league stands alone\u2019<\/p>\n The SEC certainly does not lack confidence, but it remains to be seen if that confidence is good for the sport of college football \u2014 or for the SEC itself.<\/p>\n When asked about the current state of the conference when compared against the Big Ten on Tuesday, Sankey pointed to the league\u2019s depth as the catalyst for the SEC being the \u201cmost competitive, strongest (conference) in football by far.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis league stands alone,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n While Sankey was raked over the coals for this comment online, it\u2019s a pretty fair statement. <\/p>\n The Big Ten owns 3 straight football titles and currently boasts the best of the best in the sport, but the league is top-heavy while the SEC is more balanced. From a talent perspective, NFL GMs drafted 87 former SEC stars compared to 68 former Big Ten stars in 2026.<\/p>\n Three Big Ten teams reached the Playoff last season compared to 5 SEC teams. A hypothetical 16-team Playoff last season, simply taking the next 4 in the final CFP poll, would have included 2 more; Texas<\/a> and Vanderbilt<\/a> alongside Notre Dame and BYU. <\/p>\n 5. Cupcake Weekend is no more<\/p>\n Cupcake Weekend lies smashed and broken in front of us, and I can\u2019t imagine too many are sad to see it go. <\/p>\n The penultimate weekend of the regular season, a spot on the calendar where SEC teams typically schedule G5 or FCS teams, will now look a little different. The league\u2019s athletic directors voted to play conference games<\/a> during this week moving forward amid the implementation of a 9-game conference schedule. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the end of Cupcake Weekend,\u201d Sankey said, smiling.<\/p>\n
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