At the first SEC Media Days with Texas and Oklahoma as official conference members, Commissioner Greg Sankey was adamant about one thing: the SEC is not growing anytime soon.

“16 [teams] is our today, and 16 is our tomorrow,” Sankey said. “I’m not a recruiter. My job is to make sure we meet the standard of excellence that we have for ourselves on a daily basis.

“That attracts interest. It’s done that with the two universities that we have added this year. They’re not the only phone calls I’ve ever had, but I’m not involved in recruitment.”

Sankey’s statement comes at a time where Clemson and Florida State are trying to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference through litigation. With the schools’ potential landing spot up in the air, the commissioner made it clear that fans shouldn’t expect to see them in the SEC.

“Our presidents have been clear that I am not going to entangle us in litigation around expansion. So I pay attention, but I’m not engaged in those conversations,” Sankey said. “The broader implications, obviously if things change, then there’s a new level of uncertainty. It already creates speculation that I think is counterproductive, but I don’t spend an enormous amount of my time thinking about it.

“I certainly don’t spend any time engaged in that recruiting activity because we’re focused on our 16.”

Sankey emphasized the importance of maintaining a “travel footprint” at a time when conferences such as the ACC and Big 10 stretch from coast to coast.

“We know who we are,” Sankey said. “We’re the one conference at this level where the name still means something, the southeastern part of the United States, where when we expanded, we actually restored historic rivalries while adding only 100 miles to the longest campus-to-campus trip our student-athletes will experience.”