Bruins Quarterback Ethan Garbers 4 as the LSU Tigers take on UCLA at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA. Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

UCLA, Big Ten on Notice as SEC Threatens NCAA Succession

Originally posted on UCLA Bruins on SI | By Brock Vierra | Last updated May 28, 2025 1:06 PM ET

When DeShaun Foster and the UCLA Bruins traveled down to LSU, little did they know it would be the last time the program would play in SEC country. While that's not the guaranteed reality, the SEC's continual dismissal of the importance of the NCAA and continued grievances against the College Football Playoff selection process have created a path where the SEC breaks away from the rest of college football.

What that would look like remains to be seen, but the threat is real after SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey made it known that he and others question why the SEC is still in the NCAA.

Then, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne refuses to back the Crimson Tide's commitment to the NCAA.

“(NCAA president) Charlie Baker has already come out, has he not, and said that the enforcement is changing, with the new clearinghouse, right?” Byrne said at the SEC spring meetings. “The NCAA, historically, has been really good at running championships. And I do believe March Madness has been one of the things holding all of us together.

"We all know that it’s a really special time in our country every year, when everybody’s doing their brackets and finding that time. So, I would hate to see us have a time where we’re not all joined together.”

Byrne then went into the reasons why an eventual break could be necessary, at least from the SEC’s perspective.

“Because of the legal pressures we’re all under, we’re just getting attacked,” Byrne said. “There’s a lot of things I’m going to say, but I’m not going to. We’re getting attacked regularly, that it’s making conferences at times, having to make decisions to make sure that the right ones are being made for long-term survivability. And so, I hope that can continue, where we’re all together under one umbrella.”

This comes with Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer questioning the College Football Playoff process.

"You wonder what would have happened if other people would have played our schedule," said DeBoer.

Let's not get into the fact that Alabama lost to two teams with a combined record of 13-13 but the point is clear that the SEC feels slighted and they want to be appeased with favorable terms in regards to the College Football Playoff.

The SEC is serious, and that could lead to major financial and scheduling consequences for UCLA and the rest of college football if they dare to succeed.