Ole Miss Football: SEC Athletic Directors Meet In B-ham, Nothing Yet

Keith Carter met in Birmingham with other SEC ADs to determine the fate of Ole Miss football and other SEC programs in the 2020 college football season.

Ole Miss football is much like every other SEC program at the moment. Every team in the SEC, as well as the rest of the nation, is wondering what the fate of the 2020 college football season will be. There are coaches, players, and fans wondering if we will see a fall college football season and there are those of us who are worried we may not. At least not college football we have grown accustomed to seeing.

Ole Miss football was represented by athletic director Keith Carter Monday in Birmingham as he met with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and the 13 other SEC athletic directors. Of course, the main topic of the meeting was securing some form of a 2020 college football season in the midst of growing concern over the Covid-19 pandemic. Also was the discussion of an SEC only format. They didn’t accomplish much and we still have no answers.

What Went Down?

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After a day-long meeting in Birmingham between fourteen SEC athletic directors and Greg Sankey it seems as though the consensus between all is to wait to take further action.

While this is what we all want to hear we also want to know the details behind the decision for no-decision at this point.

Apparently the 14 SEC athletic directors and the SEC commissioner agreed the decision would be put off until a later meeting.

Basically they discussed what they believe should be done and fans can determine two things. One, they want and need a football season, which is good news for SEC fans chomping at the bit for something good.

Oh, number two, we don’t know anything more yet. However, we can see the SEC admins are making a point to stay vigilant. While we don’t know the entire discussion from Monday, there have been  Sankey’s comments about the SEC’s standpoint.

The SEC Admin Take

The SEC is the strongest college football conference in the nation. Monday we learned from the meeting in Birmingham this is what they maintain to be. We know the SEC will be the last to fold in a new college football world where conferences, schools, and administrations have fallen away. The proof is in Sankey’s comments.

According to Cecil Hurt of TideSports.com,

"“We are not at that destination and a number of our colleague conferences are not at that destination, so the Big Ten made its decision.”~Greg Sankey, SEC Commissioner"

SEC Commissioner Sankey went on to say,

"“We have no common games with the Big Ten Conference this year, just one of the realities in our schedule. The impact of their decision is indirect.” ~Greg Sankey, SEC Commissioner"

Sankey and the SEC athletic directors do have a directive which is to move ahead. For college football fans and especially the SEC, this speaks volumes. At least we have hope when there are other conferences which have folded and the fan there has no hope. For now, it seems as though the SEC is safe from absolute failure.

"“I don’t know if it is every conference for ourselves, but obviously people made decisions. I observed that what happened in March was a really good indicator of what may happen when we look toward the fall, which was groups of universities, conferences, made independent decisions. Now, we all ended up at the same destination.” ~Greg Sankey, SEC Commissioner"

Commissioner Sankey has been, of course, making the rounds and had more to say to Adam Schein the host of Schein On Sports which can be found on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio.  OHT did find some interesting comments from Sankey who continues to leave SEC fans hopeful. This particular Q&A was very optimistic for SEC fans.

Adam Schein: “Is playing a full schedule still on the table for the SEC?”

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey: “It is for us. We have had some colleague conferences at the FBS and the Bowl subdivision level, notably the Big Ten and Pac-12 that have pivoted the conference only. We have no contest scheduled this year or had no contest scheduled with the Big Ten.”

You can listen to the entire segment here.

Obviously the SEC is intent on having a college football season. Would fans love it? Well of course they would. Is it the right thing to do for college football? As long as it can be accomplished in the right manner.

Back To Square One

So, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the 14 SEC ADs and the SEC commish had a meeting in B-ham and discussed what we have already known. The athletics world is taking the Covid-19 pandemic very seriously and so is the SEC. Of course, we all know they should put the players, coaches, and support staff first. However, we also know the power of the almighty dollar and its impact on college sports.

Some smaller schools have completely dismantled college sports programs and some have canceled their football seasons. We know there will be more. Between now and the first weekend in September there will be others who follow suit. The SEC and the ADs are all in at this point so we have a reason to be optimistic.

This is a good thing for Ole Miss football fans and fans across the SEC. The SEC has a plan to have a 2020 college football season even if it is an 8-game SEC schedule. Then there is the possibility of moving to spring college football season which we don’t want to see happen. For now, we are back to playing the waiting game in hope of a September kickoff. For now, no news is actually good news.

Please be sure to check back here or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates and news surrounding Ole Miss football and the 2020 college football season. Please be safe and always Hotty Toddy!