DALLAS - Greg Sankey had no shortage of things to discuss on Monday.

The SEC commissioner kicked off the 2024 SEC Media Days with a lengthy state of the conference address. Sankey touched on topics ranging from conference expansion and player issues to the recent House settlement and the overall state of college athletics.

Here are some of the highlights from Sankey's remarks.

Sankey received multiple questions that touched on potential conference expansion. He had a similar refrain each time, laying the foundation in his opening remarks.

"Sixteen (teams) is our today, and 16 is our tomorrow," Sankey said.

Sankey was asked specifically about the litigation between Clemson and Florida State and the ACC. While he said he pays attention to what's going on, he's not actively looking at that scenario as an expansion opportunity.

"We're focused on our 16," Sankey said. "I've said before at Media Days, 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.'

After his third straight question addressing expansion, Sankey said it as directly as he could.

"Our focus is on our 16 members," Sankey said. "I have a responsibility to pay attention, and I'm certainly not going to fuel speculation on what happens next. We can certainly remain at 16 for a long, long time and be incredibly successful."

Even with all the big picture issues discussed, Sankey mentioned a few issues he hears about from current players.

One, as you might expect, deals with NIL.

"They dislike this notion of every state having a different set of rules around how name, image, and likeness is conducted," Sankey said. "They dislike lining up in contests and not having an understanding that those on the other side are held to the same standards. Whether you want to believe it or not, they're not looking to be employees, and we've had pretty free-flowing conversations with them about what that may mean on what's perceived as a positive side and maybe the more problematic side."

Sankey summed up player goals by saying they want to be supported while also competing at the highest level.

"If they're injured, they want to be cared for," Sankey said. "They want to know that they have mental wellness care and support available. They tell us that that mental wellness area, they want us to eliminate any barriers or perceived road blocks, them accessing that, that might be viewed as problematic, so maybe some distance from their coaching staff just so they can have a safe space when it's needed. And they want to play for a championship in a meaningful way."

Having Media Days in Dallas isn't a thought that started with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas. Sankey noted that the league discussed moving the event to Texas in 2018.

Now that both schools are officially in the league, Sankey has been learning more and more about the Longhorns and the Sooners.

"In both places you saw the passion for their programs play out, and then in individual interactions while I walked around campus, even running on Sunday morning in Austin or Monday morning in Norman with a logo on and people doing a double take," Sankey said. "It was fun to see in those communities displays of the SEC logo, at a leadership level to have deep conversation about what the decision means for each campus and me talking about what it means for the conference."

In a rare on-field discussion, Sankey mentioned that the league is still working on tiebreakers for the divisionless 16-team schedule.

"We had our athletics directors on a videoconference Thursday where we provided an update," Sankey said. "It is a lengthy plan consolidated around, I think, eight principles. We go back to our athletics directors at their next videoconference that's about two weeks away. We can finalize that any time between now and the start of the season. We have an annual in-person meeting where any of the little pieces that have been identified for review can be refined and finalized."