SEC commish Greg Sankey drops cryptic message on X ahead of meeting with NCAA: "Weekend read-HOW TO THINK ABOUT WAR"

Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey posted a cryptic message on social media on Monday.

Sankey will meet with the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The SEC and Big Ten formed a joint advisory group of university presidents, chancellors and athletic directors to "address the significant challenges facing college athletics."

After the announcement, many thought the SEC and Big Ten would look to leave the NCAA and have their league.

Adding to the rumors, Sankey posted a cryptic message on X (formerly Twitter):

"Weekend read—HOW TO THINK ABOUT WAR: An Ancient Guide to Foreign Policy From @X-less THUCYDIDES “I think the two biggest obstacles to good decision making are haste and anger. The first tends to go hand-in-hand with foolishness, the second with recklessness and snap judgments.”

Interestingly, he posted a book on X about thinking about war, as leaving the NCAA could be a war.

Greg Sankey takes a dig at the NCAA

In an interview with Yahoo! Sports, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said the NCAA should focus on bigger than little issues.

Sankey said the NCAA is too focused on minor NIL violations, which Tennessee is going through right now.

“I have a history of not commenting on specific matters,” Sankey said. “What’s in front of us are a big set of realities. Not simply — quote — cases, but big realities. We need to be dealing with the big realities.”

Sankey believes there are much bigger issues the NCAA needs to focus on.

“Those are the big pictures that need to be resolved as the primary focus,” Sankey said. “We shouldn’t be distracted by specific matters. We need to deal with the big picture.”

What precisely those issues are is uncertain, but the cryptic tweet and those comments make many think the SEC is looking to leave the NCAA.

However, Sankey says the SEC is committed to the college football playoff.

"Yep, but we've got a lot to get right," Sankey said. "The commitment is we want to see this get right... We have the reality of meeting to deal with CFP governance with the 2026 season and beyond. That's a highly important issue."

The media rights deal ends in 2025, but all signs point to ESPN getting the rights. But, with the SEC and the Big Ten creating the new advisory group and Sankey's latest tweet, the conference could leave the NCAA.