MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — This used to be more of a vacation.
For four decades now, each Memorial Day weekend, university presidents, athletic administrators and football and basketball coaches from the SEC escape to this jewel. From the Sandestin Hilton, along the white sandy beaches of the Florida panhandle, they gather here for their annual spring meetings.
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Back in the day, this thing was four days of mostly monotonous legislative meetings. Lots of golf. Plenty of poolside cocktails. And bunches of beach time.
Through the years, the list of items tackled here are fairly trivial compared to today’s ills. Remember the controversy around football satellite camps? How about the uproar over alcohol sales at conference games?
Heck, even the heated, NIL-fueled squabble a couple years ago between Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher pales in comparison to what now stands before the most powerful college football brand in America.
Nowadays, SEC meetings are three days of intense policy-making discussions oozing with heavy subject matter. There is little to no golf. Few cocktails. And an absence of beach time.
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SEC leaders begin meetings here this week in the midst of a proverbial battle over the future of college athletics: its football (and basketball) postseason championships; the NCAA’s governance role; and the inception, for the first time ever, of direct revenue sharing with athletes.
The SEC’s spring meetings in Destin, Florida, could have a major impact on several key issues facing college sports. (David J. Griffin/Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
SEC old-timers believe it to be the most consequential gathering in the history of the conference.
Their decision on the future format of the College Football Playoff, if one comes at all, stands not only to remake the sport’s postseason but,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/article/with-college-sports-in-limbo-and-key-issues-coming-to-a-head-the-spotlight-is-on-the-sec-its-going-to-get-heated-130018106.html
Author : Ross Dellenger
Publish date : 2025-05-26 12:59:00
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