Oklahoma, Texas to Move from Big 12 to SEC in 2024, One Year Earlier Than Planned
FILE – Oklahoma and Texas fans cheer during the first half of an NCAA college football game at the Cotton Bowl, Oct. 8, 2022, in Dallas. Texas and Oklahoma are heading to the Southeastern Conference in 2024, a year earlier than originally planned, after Big 12 officials cleared the way Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, for the storied programs to exit their league. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter, File)
Oklahoma and Texas are heading to the Southeastern Conference in 2024 after Big 12 officials cleared the way for the storied programs to exit their league a year earlier than planned.
Texas and Oklahoma will leave behind the $50 million each school would have received over the next two seasons under the Big 12′s media contracts.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormak said the league would only agree to an early departure “if it was in our best interest.”
The agreement must still be approved the Texas and Oklahoma boards of regents, but that is considered a formality.
The two universities announced in July 2021 that they would join the SEC. That prompted to Big 12 to add BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, which will join later this year.
CBS Sports reports that Texas and Oklahoma not only preferred to avoid playing the new Big 12 members, they wanted to join the SEC for Year 1 of its new TV deal with ESPN. The Big 12 eyed the substantial exit fee to supplement the new six-year media rights deal it negotiated with Fox and ESPN in October 2022.
2024 will not only be the year that Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC, it’s also the beginning of the new 12-team college football playoff. In addition, USC and UCLA will be moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten.
The SEC would become a 16-team conference. What is not known is how scheduling will be changed and whether the SEC East and SEC West divisions will continue. CBS Sports reports that two formats are under consideration. One is an eight-game league schedule with one permanent opponent for each team. The other is a nine-game schedule in which each team would play three permanent opponents.
Talks are expected to continue at annual meetings in March.
Statement from @SEC Commissioner @GregSankey on Oklahoma and Texas membership transition: pic.twitter.com/qZZI6YaRJp
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) February 10, 2023
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