A SEC decision about the viability of the college football season won't come until late this month, Commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday.
Sankey's comments came after a much-anticipated meeting of the 14 conference ADs in Birmingham, the first in-person session since March and the COVID-19 canceled men's basketball tournament in Nashville.
For now, the SEC isn't going to follow the lead of the Big Ten and Pac-12, which announced conference-only football schedules last week. The SEC had no football games scheduled with the Big Ten and two with the Pac-12 � Colorado at Texas A&M and Alabama vs. USC at AT&T Stadium.
"We are not at that destination," Sankey said during an appearance on the SEC Network. "A number of our colleague conferences are not at that destination."
Big 12 athletic directors are scheduled to meet Tuesday and are expected to also wait for more information before a final decision. At this point, the SEC, Big 12 and ACC seem to all be on the same page, something that Sankey referenced. Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he anticipated a decision later in July.
"You've seen statements from my colleagues in the Big 12 and the ACC, consistent with our thinking that let's use time to the extent it's available to gather information and we'll make our determination at an appropriate time as we see fit," Sankey said.
In a tweet after the meeting, A&M AD Ross Bjork called the meeting "a great discussion" of what he and his colleagues know and don't know.
"We will know a lot more in a few weeks," Bjork said.
But Sankey acknowledged that what's happening with COVID-19 and the spike in cases in various states is not a good thing for anything resembling a normal college season.
Earlier Monday, the FCS Patriot League announced that it was canceling all fall sports. The National Junior College Athletic Association is moving high-contact fall sports including football to the spring.
Sankey characterized time was an asset that was rapidly slipping away while also preaching patience.
"We have to see a change in public health trends to build the comfort that we'll have an opportunity to compete this fall," Sankey said.
