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The Southeastern Conference has no regrets about adding Oklahoma.
The Sooners closed their second year in the league with a national title for Skip Johnson’s baseball program at the College World Series, which has only reinforced why it was a great move to add the crimson and cream to the conference.
“I think it’s been one of those natural fits, one of those things like, ‘Man, we should have thought about this a long time ago,’” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told The Franchise Players at SEC Media Days in Tampa.
The OU baseball triumph followed K.J. Kindler’s group, who captured another national title in the spring, to bring the Sooners’ tally to two in the academic year.
Patty Gasso’s softball program also won the conference regular-season title for the second straight year, women’s tennis won the regular-season title, Brent Venables led the football program back to the College Football Playoff behind massive wins over Tennessee and Alabama and Jennie Baranczyk's team played into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.
“Hearing from our fans who have traveled to Norman to be a part of the experience at the University of Oklahoma and then meeting those who have traveled to the longer-standing members of the conference who have traveled with Oklahoma, I think those have been mutually positive,” Sankey said.
Sankey believes that Oklahoma has fit right into the league’s culture, both on and off the field.
“When you look at the competitive success, what we want is a group of universities in the athletic program that challenge each other and help the constant cycle of improvement take place. And when you’re winning championships, that’s true,” he said.
The recent example of baseball’s run through Omaha particularly stood out to Sankey.
“(Johnson) talked about playing in the SEC; every week was effectively like a Regional or a Super Regional,” Sankey said. “So then when it came postseason, his team had been through close games, intensely competitive games in front of tough crowds in moments where you perform or you don’t perform and fall short. And they were ready.”
Once OU got to the postseason, its preparation took over.
“Whether it was the series at Georgia Tech and that deep drive over center field to win the thing,” said Sankey. “The next week, going to Kansas and being ready, and part of that is the disruption that took place because of the weather. And then repeatedly in Omaha, rising to the level of needed performance to win a national championship.
“I think that’s probably the most current evidence of how this league builds our team for these national championship opportunities.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/oklahoma as Why Greg Sankey Believes Oklahoma's Fit in the SEC has Been 'Natural' .
