The SEC might be the only league playing football this fall. Is that wise?

In this uncertain coronavirus time, there is a characteristic that serves Greg Sankey well. The SEC commissioner has run more than 40 marathons. Endurance tests are nothing new.

And so it was that Sankey was on the “Dan Patrick Show” on Tuesday morning, mere hours before the Big Ten and Pac-12 officially became the first two Power Five conferences to cancel their fall football seasons, answering questions about the league of his own.

“The indicators are we can right now do what we’re doing in a healthy way,” Sankey told Patrick, “and we’re going to continue to consider the central issue, health, as we move forward we hope toward competition with no assurances that it will actually take place.”

Big question: Is that the wise thing to do? With now four FBS leagues (the MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 and Big Ten) canceling fall football, is the league climbing too far out on a limb that will ultimately be cut off?

Sankey is obviously smart, well-read, disciplined — Sankey runs at least 3 miles a day — and, most of all, deliberate. Under his leadership, the SEC was not the first to collapse the tent on its men’s basketball tournament when COVID-19 first reared its ugly head back in March, but it ultimately made the right call. Through the summer, the SEC was not the first to roll out health and safety measures, but the league appears the most likely to see them through.

“Best advice I’ve received since COVID-19: ‘Be patient. Take time when making decisions. This is all new and you’ll gain better information each day,’” Sankey tweeted Monday.

Even before Tuesday’s announcements, Patrick asked Sankey about the reports of what that leagues appeared ready to do.

“We’ve obviously had conversation among colleagues, so you have a sense of what may happen,” Sankey said. “It is information for us. That’s what it is. And I’ve said to you in my monthly appearances, every day we learn a little bit more. It is not simply going to be a guiding moment if another conference makes a decision, but a piece of information along this really, really interesting journey.”

And this: “We’ve made decisions to avoid some of the time pressure I sense others are feeling. We’ve not had our players in helmets and pads for full practices. We’ve spread our preseason preparation out. We’ve moved our kickoff back to allow our universities to get back to kind of their normal fall semester order. Give them some time to think, for things to settle out.”

The league pushed back the return to practice. It settled on a 10-game conference-only schedule, sacrificing traditional rivalries and marquee non-conference matchups in the process. It delayed opening week from Sept. 5 to Sept. 26.

Personally, I doubt college football completes a season. Reports of the Big Ten and other leagues finding heart complications in athletes who have tested positive for COVID-19 is cause for pause, if not alarm. Magical thinking won’t make things work.

Still, I get Sankey’s stance. Yes, the players want to play, but they’re also kids. We need adults in the room. Adults who listen to medical and legal experts and make rational decisions. The trick will be carrying that out.

Patrick asked Sankey if it is possible the SEC could be the only conference playing football this fall.

“Could we? Certainly,” the commissioner said. “So there’s a difference between can you do something and should you do something in life. So we’re actually set up with our schedule, with our own health protocols, that we could if that was the circumstance to operate on our own. I’m not sure that’s the wisest direction.”

It’s not. What if the SEC is the only conference that decides to play and it doesn’t work, the virus spreads, teams shut down, players get sick, some very sick? Then what? That’s the risk.

Right now, we’re in a marathon some are choosing not to run. And the SEC needs to be safe. Better still, it needs to be smart.