College football is no longer the same sport it once was. NIL and the Transfer Portal changed everything, and if most people had the option to go back in time to the “good ole days” there’s a good shot they’d do it.
But going back to college football pre-NIL and pre-Transfer Portal is impossible, so everyone has to figure out how to sustain success in this new landscape. No one has done a better job of that than Kirby Smart and Georgia, but there are some serious concerns that need to be addressed in this new version of college football.
The biggest concern that many seem to have, Smart included, is that the NCAA hasn’t been able to govern and enforce their rules like they should be able to. This has allowed programs to bend the rules and face very little (if any) consequences.
The SEC specifically has been the most outspoken about their displeasures to the point where the idea of the conference breaking away to create their own set of rules has been floated around. Most fans, SEC included, are against this, but Smart apparently is in favor of it if the NCAA can’t figure it out.
NEW: Georgia's Kirby Smart on the SEC breaking away if national rules can't be agreed upon:
— On3 (@On3) May 26, 2026
"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. I'm not afraid of that.… pic.twitter.com/wH0QfRmpue
Kirby Smart being in favor of the SEC breaking away is the last thing anyone should want to see
What would breaking away from the NCAA look like? It would mean that the SEC would play by their own rules and compete for their own championships that are separate from the rest of the country.
Greg Sankey calmed Kirby Smart’s nerves about a potential end to the SEC Championship game
The reason Smart and the SEC want to do this is so they can enforce the rules they have in place which is something the NCAA hasn’t been able to do. The NCAA tries to enforce their rules surrounding eligibility limits, NIL and the Transfer Portal, but all it takes is one court case for all of their efforts to be for nothing. The SEC thinks they can do things much better on their own, and in all honesty they probably could.
Just because that may be true though doesn’t mean they should do it.
Only playing other SEC teams for the rest of time would get old fast. Non-conference games, especially in the postseason, are arguably the best games of the season simply because you are playing a team you normally don’t. So is it worth it for the SEC to break away if that means they can’t play anyone else?
There could be something greater at play though that Smart doesn’t want to say out loud. If the SEC is successfully able to break away from the NCAA and thrive then maybe every other conference will follow suit. Maybe the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC will want to join the SEC’s new venture and leave the NCAA behind as well.
That would be the best scenario by far, but there’s no telling what would happen if the SEC does leave. But if time goes on and the NCAA isn’t able get things under control then the SEC might have no choice but to break away and hope for the best.
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