SEC Commissioner Mike Slive took to the stage in the Main Media room at the Wynfrey Hotel at Hyatt Regency Birmingham at approximately 11:30 am CT with his “State of the SEC Address.”
Slive started with his annual “SEC brag bag” quoting the great Muhammad Ali saying “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” He spoke of the 7 national championship teams, 6 national runner-ups, and numerous other individual awards stating that “What we do today, and how we handle our successes and meet our challenges will determine the SEC of tomorrow.”
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive at the podium during his “State of the SEC Address”
Commissioner Slive also spoke about the new scheduling format that was announced in May, saying that “The strength and depth of the SEC was certainly a determining factor in the decision to keep an 8-game conference schedule.” Under the new format each SEC team is now required to play one non-conference game against a “Power 5” conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, or PAC-12). Aside from the teams that already participate in traditional non-conference rivals, Slive announced that future games had been scheduled with Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas State, and Arizona amongst the teams without traditional non-conference rivals.
With the SEC Network debuting exactly one month from today, Slive was sure to discuss that. To date only AT&T U-Verse and the DISH Network are the only nationwide providers for the SEC Network, but Slive made no doubt about it, they are working diligently to get more providers stating that “We are in contact with all major cable companies about getting a deal done.”
The final and most anticipated topic that Slive spoke about was autonomy in college athletics. Autonomy and restructuring the NCAA has been a heavily debated topic since the conclusion of the 2013 college football season; Slive had this to say about it “We have created the initiative to restructure the NCAA in accordance with our vision for the 21st century with the support of student-athletes at its core.” He continued saying “The educational and cultural significance of intercollegiate athletics is far too important for us not to seek positive solutions to existing challenges.”
Slive finished with this “College athletics has a unique power to change lives. We support reform, but it’s essential that reform be implemented in a way that preserves the positive role that college athletics plays in the lives of our student-athletes.”
