SEC growing more determined to govern itself — with or without congressional action

ATHENS, Ga. — The LSU crisis has given the SEC an unexpected test for something it’s discussed for nearly a year: Breaking away from the NCAA to make and enforce its own rules.

And while the LSU situation is ongoing, Georgia president Jere Morehead said Friday the conference is more sure than ever that self-governance is the right course.

Morehead, speaking Friday after a meeting of the Georgia athletic board, declined comment on the SEC lawsuit against LSU. But he indicated the conference is moving closer to consensus on the overall takeaway.

“I think the members of the SEC support the notion of self-governance,” Morehead said. “I remain a strong advocate of the Southeastern Conference creating its own rules, and governing itself, and I’m going to be a strong supporter of commissioner (Greg) Sankey as he works to develop that model.”

The SEC collectively has been discussing a possible breakaway from the NCAA — from rules to everything else — for almost one year. That’s faced skepticism — or outright opposition — from other conferences; ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in July that “self-governance is no governance.”

The LSU case may be proving otherwise to the SEC.

“We’re early in this process. We have two pending pieces of litigation; we’ve got the Protect College Sports Act coming up hopefully for a positive vote in the Senate. So there’s a lot of things happening now,” Morehead said. “But I do believe the SEC setting rules and league members following those rules is a path forward that we should all support.”

The Protect College Sports Act, as currently written, would give the NCAA some antitrust protection to make and enforce national rules. The bill would also set a national salary cap for football and other teams.

Yet, if the legislation doesn’t pass, or the salary cap isn’t part of a final bill, the SEC has discussed setting its own salary cap, possibly as part of collective bargaining with players. Sankey confirmed that several months ago. And it was discussed again two weeks ago at a presidents and athletic directors meeting.

However, the LSU case has taken center stage, providing an early test of whether a conference making and enforcing its own rules would work. So far it appears to be holding up. A Louisiana state judge has ordered that athletes, including tight end DaeQuan Wright and defensive tackle Xzavian Harris, should be eligible and that the SEC and LSU cannot prevent them from playing, but LSU has decided not to roster the players.

The school made that decision after the SEC adopted harsh penalties for rostering players who had signed certain pro contracts — including the NFL — and then sued LSU and threatened to kick the school out of the conference. SEC presidents were supposed to vote on a dismissal Thursday, according to an amended filing in an SEC lawsuit against LSU and coach Lane Kiffin. But after LSU agreed not to roster the players, the presidents did not vote, though the situation continued to be discussed.

“We had a lengthy meeting but that’s about all I can say,” Morehead said, adding that there was not a further call on Friday.

Morehead is among those inside the conference who have advocated for going even further in breaking away: An SEC-only football playoff, for instance. But those drastic options are on the back burner and were not discussed at the most recent meetings.

The focus now is on separate SEC rules, from eligibility to salary cap to other issues. The scope will depend on whether the PCSA passes and, if so, what the final bill looks like.

Nonetheless, Morehead clarified he doesn’t think it’s an either-or situation.

“Even if Congress passes legislation, there’s still going to be a need for the conferences to have specific rules on specific matters,” he said. “Part of the legislation that Congress is proposing is giving not only national bodies but the conferences the ability to function without the threat of litigation. I’m optimistic that that act would improve our position. But again, we’ll have to see what happens.”