The University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma have made a formal request for entrance into the Southeastern Conference, a move, if approved, that would push the SEC to 16 schools, and in turn, could be a death blow to the 25 year-old Big 12 Conference. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said of the request, “We will consider it in the near future.”
On Monday, the schools representing the Big 12 notified the league that they would not be extending an agreement that binds conference members to 2025. The official letter sent by OU and UT officials to Sankey requests admittance into the SEC for a period beginning on July 1, 2025.
A decade ago, the Big 12 was able to survive, but undoubtedly lost a level of prestige, losing four members (Nebraska, Colorado, Texas A&M, and Missouri) before adding TCU and West Virginia. Texas A&M and Missouri both joined the SEC, and A&M, long-time rivals of Texas, have been notably upset over Texas and its potential SEC move, noting that one of the reasons of the Aggies move was to escape the Texas shadow and become the only SEC school in the Lone Star State.
What happens between now and the summer of 2025 in both Norman and Austin is somewhat unknown, as competing in a lame-duck Big 12 for four seasons is nowhere near ideal for either school nor the Big 12 itself.
Competing in the conference as a lame duck for four more seasons doesn’t benefit the schools and isn’t ideal for the Big 12, either. If the conference is going to survive, it needs to begin rebuilding soon to show stability heading into negotiations for its next television contract.
The Big 12 was created from a merger of sorts between the Big Eight and Southwestern Conference in 1994 and began play in 1996. Texas and Oklahoma are the conference’s most notable brands. They have the richest and most successful athletic departments, and they are the only Big 12 schools to win national college football championships.
With the Big 12 potentially dropping back to eight schools, and in turn losing the most profitable of its football brands, there are already reports that the eight remaining schools (Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech) are looking at opportunities outside of the Big 12’s footprint. Weekend reports indicated Kansas and Iowa State, both of whom would be fits geographically, looking into the potential of joining the 14-school Big 10 Conference.
