SEC's Greg Sankey 'Shaken but Not Deterred' by Postponements amid COVID-19

Amid several COVID-19 outbreaks at SEC schools that led to the postponement of four games on this week's football schedule, conference commissioner Greg Sankey says he remains confident about concluding the season. 

"I'm certainly shaken but not deterred," Sankey told reporters.

The SEC postponed four games originally slated for Saturday (Alabama-LSU, Auburn-Mississippi State, Texas A&M-Tennessee and Georgia-Missouri), each of which included a Top 25 team. The conference will have only three games this weekend (Vanderbilt-Kentucky, Arkansas-Florida and South Carolina-Ole Miss).

Sankey did acknowledge that there is a possibility the College Football Playoff may need to be postponed in order for teams to complete their conference schedules. The CFP is currently slated to begin Jan. 1. 

"We're all going to have to be flexible," Sankey said. "So I'm not going to hypothesize about change, but I'm not inattentive to the potential that change may need to occur."

College football has been overrun with positive COVID-19 cases since its season began, with numerous games being postponed or being canceled outright. Because of the sheer breadth of people involved in the sport, the risk of widespread cancellations always existed.

CFP executive director Bill Hancock told ESPN that the selection committee always expected postponements and cancellations because of the coronavirus. However, it's unlikely the committee expected this many. With COVID-19 again seeing exponential spikes across the nation due to people ignoring recommendations on mask wearing and social distancing, it's likely college football will see a greater impact as the season progresses into winter.