TAMPA, Fla. — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey reiterated Monday that talk of the conference breaking away is “real,” and not a leverage play.The idea of an SEC breakaway, either to a drastic or small extent, has been simmering within the conference for a while, then broke out at SEC spring meetings in late May. Sankey did not directly address the possibility during his opening comments Monday, at the start of SEC football media days, but the first question was about how real the breakaway talk was. Notably, Sankey did not downplay it.“They’re real,” Sankey said. “People have talked about that. They’ve opined about the frustrations that bring them to the point of saying we should look at something significantly different. I do not believe that is a leverage point. I think that’s just honest communication. … I think what’s important is those comments represent a high level of frustration in the circumstances in which we find ourselves.”Those frustrations are largely about how national rules — tampering, the House v. NCAA settlement, eligibility — are being enforced, and whether it would be better for the SEC to adopt its own rules and potentially only play against its own schools. Sankey pointed Monday to “the frustration that exists” over different eligibility rules, and disagreements over the future format of the College Football Playoff.But he finished his response by reiterating the preference to compete nationally, pointing to the pride he takes in the SEC’s 13 national championships in NCAA sports this past school year.