If we can't find rules everybody plays by, we should play on our own
At the SEC spring meetings in Florida, a quiet threshold was crossed: the question of whether college football's most powerful conference could govern itself has given way to whether it must. Georgia's Kirby Smart and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey have both voiced what many have long suspected — that the NCAA, diminished by legal erosion and institutional drift, may no longer be capable of holding the sport together. What once sounded like rebellion now sounds like pragmatism, and the architecture of college athletics may be approaching a reckoning it can no longer defer.
- The NCAA's authority over college football has been hollowed out by years of legal challenges, leaving it unable to enforce the very rules it exists to create.
- NIL deals, roster limits, and spending controls remain unresolved as the season approaches, and the window for congressional intervention is narrowing fast.
- Kirby Smart declared publicly that the SEC is strong enough to break away and govern itself — a statement that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
- SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, a Big 12 athletic director, and analyst Kirk Herbstreit have all signaled openness to a Power Four breakaway, shifting the idea from fringe to plausible.
- The sport now faces a choice between a governance system that exists on paper but enforces nothing, and the complicated but increasingly necessary work of building something new.
At the SEC spring meetings in Florida this week, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said plainly what many in college football have been thinking: if the NCAA cannot produce rules that everyone actually follows, the SEC should leave and govern itself. He expressed no fear of that outcome, arguing that financial independence and a conference-written framework would bring more stability than the current arrangement.
The frustration behind Smart's words reflects a broader reality. The NCAA has been steadily weakened by legal challenges and institutional drift, its practical authority now reduced mostly to eligibility decisions. The deeper problems — how to regulate NIL, set roster limits, and control spending — remain unresolved. Congress could theoretically intervene with national legislation, but the political process is slow and the football season is close.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey echoed the same sentiment. He noted that he personally advocated for national standards at the White House in March, but acknowledged that if those standards cannot be achieved, conference-led regulation is the only realistic path. His tone marked a shift: not a threat, but a recognition of where things are heading.
What gives this moment weight is how many prominent voices are now saying the same thing. A Big 12 athletic director suggested a Power Four breakaway would be reasonable and said he would accept it. Kirk Herbstreit stated publicly he would support the Power Four leaving the NCAA entirely. When coaches, administrators, and analysts converge on the same conclusion, the idea stops being theoretical.
A formal separation would be complicated — television contracts, bowl structures, and the sport's entire architecture would need reworking. But the alternative, as Smart and others see it, is a governing body that governs nothing. The question is no longer whether the SEC could operate independently. The question is whether it will decide it has no other choice.
Kirby Smart stood before reporters at the SEC spring meetings in Florida this week and said something that, a few years ago, would have sounded like heresy: if the NCAA cannot establish rules that everyone actually follows, the SEC should leave and run itself.
"I've said this for a long time to our president, I've been a huge advocate that if we can't find rules that everybody plays by, then we should play on our own," the Georgia head coach said. "I'm not afraid of that. I'm not afraid to break away and say that our conference is strong enough to go out and play." He went further, suggesting that financial independence would stabilize programs across all sports and allow the conference to write its own governance framework.
Smart's position reflects a deepening frustration with the NCAA's capacity to function as a governing body. The organization, hollowed out by legal challenges and years of institutional drift, has become largely ceremonial—its practical authority now limited mostly to individual player eligibility decisions. Meanwhile, the real problems in college football—how to regulate name, image, and likeness deals, set roster limits, control spending, and enforce standards—remain unsolved. There is still hope that Congress might step in with national legislation, but the political machinery in Washington moves slowly, and the college football season arrives in a few months. The window for federal action is closing.
Smart is not alone in this thinking. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, speaking earlier in the week, acknowledged the same frustration. He noted that the conference has long advocated for national standards and that he personally made that case at the White House on March 6. But he also signaled a shift: if national standards cannot be achieved, conference-led regulation becomes the only realistic path forward. "The fact that we're talking about our own rules isn't anything new," Sankey said. "What you're hearing is the expression of frustration about the lack of progress."
What makes this moment significant is that the conversation is no longer confined to one coach or one commissioner. A Big 12 athletic director recently suggested that a breakaway by the Big Ten and SEC would not be unreasonable, and he indicated he would accept it. Kirk Herbstreit, one of the sport's most influential voices, has publicly stated he would support the Power Four conferences leaving the NCAA entirely. When this many prominent figures—coaches, administrators, analysts—are saying the same thing, the idea shifts from theoretical to plausible.
The NCAA's governance of college football, which once seemed immovable, now appears fragile. The organization cannot enforce uniform rules because it lacks the authority to do so. The conferences have grown too powerful, the money too large, and the legal exposure too great. Breaking away would be complicated—television contracts, bowl games, and the architecture of the sport would all need reworking. But the alternative, as Smart and others see it, is a system that satisfies no one: rules that exist on paper but not in practice, enforcement that cannot enforce, and a governing body that governs nothing.
The question is no longer whether the SEC or the Power Four could operate independently. The question is whether they will decide they have to.
Citas Notables
If we can't find rules that everybody plays by, then we should play on our own. I'm not afraid to break away and say that our conference is strong enough to go out and play.— Kirby Smart, Georgia head coach
What you're hearing is the expression of frustration about the lack of progress. If those national standards can't be achieved, then we'll have to look at more conference-led regulation.— Greg Sankey, SEC Commissioner
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why would Kirby Smart, a coach who benefits from the current system, want to blow it up?
Because the current system isn't actually a system anymore. It's chaos with a rulebook nobody follows. Smart is saying: if we're going to operate without real enforcement anyway, let's at least be honest about it and make our own rules.
But wouldn't that create even more chaos? Different conferences with different standards?
Possibly. But Smart's argument is that the SEC is wealthy and stable enough to create its own coherent framework. Right now there's no framework at all—just a vacuum that NIL and spending have filled.
What does Greg Sankey's comment about the White House mean? Is he saying the federal government should step in?
He's saying they tried. He went to the White House and made the case for national legislation. But Congress moves slowly and football season starts soon. So he's pivoting: if Washington won't act, the conferences will.
Is this actually going to happen?
When Kirk Herbstreit, athletic directors, and major coaches are all saying the same thing, you stop dismissing it as fantasy. The NCAA has no real power left. The only question is whether the Power Four formalize what's already true.
What happens to the rest of college football if they leave?
That's the real problem nobody's solved yet. The NCAA would govern a much smaller, weaker enterprise. It's not a clean break—it's a fracture.