Report: Texas, Oklahoma Look to Leave Big 12, Join SEC

Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Texas and Oklahoma have reached out to the SEC regarding a potential conference move, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Brent Zwerneman.

The addition of the Big 12 powers would give the SEC 16 schools, creating the nation’s first “super-conference,” per Zwerneman. Texas and Oklahoma’s induction into the SEC will be dependent on a “majority vote,” per the Austin American-Statesman’s Kirk Bohls.

Wednesday’s report doesn’t mark the first potential rumblings of an exodus from the Big 12. Texas and Oklahoma both nearly left the conference after the 2010 season, but the pair of programs stayed put as Missouri and Texas A&M left for the SEC. Texas A&M president Ross Bjork said Wednesday he hopes the Aggies remain “the only SEC team from the state of Texas,” per Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger. 

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey declined to comment on Wednesday’s report. 

“The college athletics landscape is shifting constantly,” an Oklahoma spokesperson told The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach. “We don’t address every anonymous rumor.”

A Texas spokesperson told the Austin-American Statesman’s Brian Davis something eerily similar. “Speculation swirls around college athletics,” the spokesman said per the report. “We will not address rumors and speculation.”

And Oklahoma State, a traditional Big 12 foe of the two schools, released a statement critical of any move. “We have heard unconfirmed reports that OU and UT approached Southeastern Conference officials about joining the SEC. We are gathering information and will monitor closely. If true, we are would be gravely disappointed.”

The Big 12’s current TV contract with ESPN and FOX expires in 2025. Texas’s television station, the Longhorn Network, has a contract that runs with ESPN through 2031.

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