The SEC athletic directors met with commissioner Greg Sankey Monday in Birmingham for a regularly-scheduled meeting, but left with no decision regarding the fate of the 2020 college football campaign.

However, that was always the plan.

In a text to UGASports, Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity confirmed that the league will indeed wait until late July before coming to any conclusion regarding the upcoming season.

That includes whether or not the league will follow the lead of the Big Ten and Pac-12 and go to an all-conference schedule in the event games can be played.

Sankey later confirmed the conference’s stance in a press release to reporters.

“We had a productive meeting on Monday and engaged in discussions on a number of important issues that will contribute to critical decisions to be made in the weeks ahead,” said Sankey. “The ability to personally interact over the course of an entire day contributed to the productivity of the meeting.”

Sankey and all 14 conference athletic directors convened Monday morning and met until late in the afternoon at the SEC’s Kramer-Moore Conference Room, which allowed for social distancing. Several external groups participated by video conference, including members of the SEC’s Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force, chaired by Georgia’s Ron Courson, and discussed issues relevant to the current pre-season calendar, the approaching fall seasons of competition, and an update on current COVID-19 testing procedures.

It marked the first in-person meeting by the SEC athletic directors since before the conference's Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville. The group has met numerous times via videoconference since the pandemic began.

“It is clear that current circumstances related to COVID-19 must improve, and we will continue to closely monitor developments around the virus on a daily basis,” Sankey said. “In the coming weeks, we will continue to meet regularly with campus leaders via videoconferences and gather relevant information while guided by medical advisors. We believe that late July will provide the best clarity for making the important decisions ahead of us.”

Among the topics discussed were possible scheduling options for holding athletic competition in the fall of 2020. They also looked at game management and best practices for ensuring a healthy environment at athletics events for student-athletes, coaches, officials, staff and fans.