The SEC doesn't want the Michigan Wolverines to hold spring practice in Florida this year. The SEC has asked the NCAA to ban college football teams from having spring practice during spring break, a clear attempt to stop Michigan from having a portion of its spring practice at IMG Academy in Florida.
"Our primary reaction [is] that, in the face of the time-demand conversations, we’ve got one program taking what has been 'free time' away,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told CBS Sports. “Let’s draw a line and say, ‘That’s not appropriate."
The SEC believes that athletes should actually be able to spend their spring break on something other than football. Jim Harbaugh's move comes at a time when there complaints that athletes spend too much time on their sport, hurting their academics in the process.
"This seems completely counter to the dialogue," Sankey said. "We have work to do on [giving athletes a] day off. We have work to do on, how do you provide a postseason break? It seems where this is one where reasonable people could say we just shouldn’t be in this space."
The SEC requested the new NCAA Football Oversight Committee to address the issue as soon as possible. Sources told CBS Sports that a decision likely won't be made in time to affect Michigan's trip. There currently is no rule banning what Michigan is planning to do, but CBS Sports says it will likely be prohibited in the near future.
Michigan declined comment on the matter, as did Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and chairman of the oversight committee, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby. For more on Michigan's spring practice in Florida, download the Chat Sports Android and iPhone app.
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