Austin, TX — After a couple of weeks of discussions regarding these two power schools leaving the Big 12, it was officially announced that the SEC extended an invitation to both schools to join.
“Today’s unanimous vote is both a testament to the SEC’s longstanding spirit of unity and mutual cooperation, as well as a recognition of the outstanding legacies of academic and athletic excellence established by the Universities of Oklahoma and Texas,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement.
“I greatly appreciate the collective efforts of our Presidents and Chancellors in considering and acting upon each school’s membership interest.”
The board of regents for both Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will meet with the conference on Friday to officially accept the invitation to the conference. Both school are expected to join in 2025, however many sources surrounding both school don’t believe Texas and Oklahoma will last until 2025 with the Big 12 Conference. If the two school desire to leave prior to the expiration date, both must submit in writing regarding their departure 18 months ahead and will have to pay the Big 12 approximately $70 – $80 million.
A similar move was attempted in 2010 by then Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott when he attempted to acquire Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Colorado to the conference. Yet Scott’s attempts were squashed by Texas officials who desired to keep the Big 12 conference in tact, despite numerous efforts by Scott to campaign to the schools to join.
Adding Texas and Oklahoma could increase the SEC’s annual revenue to approximately $1.3 Billion during the 2024-25 year according to USA Today. With the departure of Texas and Oklahoma, other schools in the Big 12 could scatter like waterbugs and find homes in other conferences such as the Big Ten, Pac-12, and ACC.
This move will force the other conferences to realign and expand rather quickly primarily the Pac-12 moving forward.
