SEC’s Greg Sankey stiff-arms expansion talk, but could Big 12 add FSU, Clemson?

With Florida State and Clemson considering their affiliation options, one that does not appear to be a possibility at the moment is the Southeastern Conference.

“We’re focused on our 16 (members),” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday at the league’s media days event in Dallas. “I’m not a recruiter.”

Sankey fielded a handful of questions about realignment. Texas and Oklahoma are set to begin their inaugural seasons in the SEC, and that’s all the growth expected for the conference at the moment.

“Sixteen is our today, and 16 is our tomorrow,” Sankey said. “We can be at 16 for a long, long time and be incredibly successful.”

Florida State and Clemson have expressed dissatisfaction with the ACC and are in the middle of lawsuits over their media-rights deals with the conference. The schools claim the ACC deal puts them at a competitive disadvantage with the higher-paying SEC and Big Ten.

If not the SEC, is the Big 12 a possible landing spot for the Seminoles and Tigers? At Big 12 media days last week, commissioner Brett Yormark said his league “is always open for business.”

The Big 12, having lost the Longhorns and Sooners, added Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State to become a 16-team conference this year.

“We solidified ourselves as one of the top three conferences in America,” Yormark said last week. “There has never been a better time than right now to be part of the Big 12.

“We are truly a national conference in 10 states, four time zones and all eyes are now on the Big 12 for all the right reasons. I think it’s safe to say we are more relevant now than ever before.”