AUSTIN, Texas — A whole new world awaits Texas and Oklahoma fans in the SEC.
Get ready for Death Valley, Rocky Top and the Swamp. Go tailgating in the Grove in Oxford, and wear earplugs for the cowbells in Starkville. Big Blue Nation wants to dunk on you in the Commonwealth. Don’t ask Nick Saban about his depth chart, and don’t get rattled between the hedges in Athens.
And Texas A&M is still eager to saw Varsity’s horns off.
The Southeastern Conference presidents voted in unanimous 14-0 fashion Thursday to formally invite the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma to be members of the most prestigious athletic league in college sports.
Texas and OU asked to join in 2025 and want to start earlier, but Big 12 Conference officials might drag this out as long as possible. The SEC announced that the two teams were invited to join the league on July 1, 2025, with competition to begin in the 2025-26 athletic year.
Still, Thursday was a historic day for the Longhorns and Sooners as they become the 15th and 16th members of an elite conference known for NFL-caliber talent, big television contracts, wild personalities and where “It Just Means More.”
“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.
This entire arrangement came together in secret. Nobody — not fans, reporters or even Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby — had any inkling this was happening behind the scenes until July 21. That’s when the Houston Chronicle posted a five-paragraph story saying that Texas and OU were in talks to join the SEC, a story confirmed by the Austin American-Statesman.
From there, things went into hyperdrive but followed a tight script.
On Monday, the two schools released a joint statement after informing the Big 12 they did not want to extend their grant of television rights beyond 2025. On Tuesday, Texas and OU formally applied to the SEC for membership.
Wednesday was slow by comparison, but the Texas A&M System Board of Regents announced that the university president would indeed vote yes to allow expansion. Before that announcement, it had been widely assumed that Texas and OU would be accepted with a 14-0 or 13-1 vote.
Thursday afternoon's vote by the SEC presidents on a virtual call became somewhat anticlimactic. UT and Oklahoma regents have scheduled meetings Friday morning to formally accept the SEC invitations.
All of this was triggered months ago, maybe six months to a year, according to various sources. If UT officials were thinking about leaving the Big 12, it became crystal clear this spring when ESPN and Fox officials told the Big 12 they did not want to pay more in the current environment.
The current Big 12 television deal runs through the 2024-25 athletic year. The Big 12 wanted a five-year commitment extension from its members to coincide with the end of the Longhorn Network’s contract, a source familiar with the Big 12’s plans told the American-Statesman. Technically, the LHN contract extends to June 2031. Texas balked, as did Oklahoma, apparently.
Now the attention shifts back to the Big 12 and how fast the remaining eight schools can find a workable solution. They could force UT and OU to stay in the league until the 2024-25 athletic year. Both schools signed a contract. It calls for a buyout of approximately $80 million each if they want to leave early, a Big 12 source said.
Or the remaining eight schools could join new conferences, causing the Big 12 to implode, meaning there would be no buyout. That’s exactly what Bowlsby thinks ESPN is trying to orchestrate behind the scenes.
The Big 12 sent the sports television behemoth a cease-and-desist letter Wednesday. ESPN is “intentionally interfering with our business operations by encouraging other conferences to poach the members of the Big 12 and providing incentives to them to do so,” Bowlsby told USA Today.
Bowlsby has not returned calls or texts from the American-Statesman.
CBS Sports reported late Wednesday that Bowlsby believes ESPN’s actions amount to “interference.” He believes the American Athletic Conference has reached out to “three to five” remaining members of the Big 12 about moving to the AAC and leaving the Big 12. Or the AAC could take all eight Big 12 leftovers.
“I have every expectation that Oklahoma and Texas will do whatever they can to not meet their (contractual) obligations. That’s what they’ve done so far,” Bowlsby told CBS Sports.
ESPN President Burke Magnus fired back Thursday with the network's own strongly worded statement, saying, “The accusations you have made are entirely without merit.
“To be clear, ESPN has engaged in no wrongful conduct and, thus, there is nothing to ‘cease and desist,’” the letter to Bowlsby states. “We trust this will put the matter to rest. ESPN reserves all rights and remedies in connection with this matter.”
A high-ranking UT source told the American-Statesman that the school has “every intention” of honoring its contractual commitments. It’s unclear how long until there will be resolution on this issue.
“None of this is going to happen quick,” said a Big 12 source familiar with Bowlsby’s thinking.
Interim South Carolina President Harris Pastides called Texas and OU “impressive universities, academically and with their tradition.”
“When I will look at my personal decision, it’s not merely their athletic competitiveness or the business part of the decision, but would they be worthy peers and colleagues to the conference?” Pastides told The Post and Courier in Colombia, S.C.
Still, Pastides indicated this could take awhile. “I think they have television contracts to fulfill. And so I think we’re talking about that kind of time frame (2025).”
The waiting is the hardest part.
Before then, Texas is scheduled for a nonconference football game at Arkansas this season on Sept. 11. UT is also scheduled for a nonconference, home-and-home series against Alabama during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The Texas men’s basketball is also scheduled to host Tennessee this season in the Big 12/SEC Challenge at the Erwin Center.
Moving to this new league should boost Texas' and OU’s recruiting as more top-flight players pick the SEC over the Big 12. The Horns have finished a $175 million expansion of Royal-Memorial Stadium, and in 2022 the new Moody Center will open for basketball.
A new 16-team SEC should provide some red-hot rivalries in baseball, too. Texas and Mississippi State staged some of the best games of the entire College World Series in June.
Eventually, Bevo XV and Uga can renew acquaintances from the 2019 Sugar Bowl. Just keep them at a distance this time. Unlike in the Big 12, live mascots are welcome in the SEC.
Everybody’s welcome at Waffle House restaurants all over the SEC map.
