Texas, Oklahoma Officially Apply for SEC Membership
On Monday the University of Texas and University of Oklahoma officially informed the Big 12 that they will not be renewing their grants of rights agreement with the conference. And on Tuesday, the two schools sent a letter to the SEC officially applying to become members of the conference.
The letter to SEC commissioner Sankey read, “The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Oklahoma (the “Universities) request invitations for membership to the Southeastern Conference (the “SEC”) startin gon July 1, 2025. We believe that there would be mutual benefit to the Universities on the one hand, and the SEC on the other hand, for the Universities to become members of the SEC. We look forward to the prospect of discussions regarding this matter.”
Is there anything more obnoxious in this story than (the “SEC”) part of the letter? Nope. Also, I wonder how wild these last 24 hours would have been had the story of Texas and Oklahoma looking to the SEC not leaked last week.
Since yesterday’s new, the Big 12 Conference put out a statement expressing disappointment in how all of these went down.
The statement read as follows: “Although our eight members are disappointed with the decisions of these two institutions, we recognize that intercollegiate athletics is experiencing rapid change and will most likely look much different in 2025 than it does currently,” said commissioner Bob Bowlsby via the statement. “The Big 12 Conference will continue to support our member institutions’ efforts to graduate student athletes and compete for Big 12 and NCAA championships. Like many others, we will use the next four years to fully assess what the landscape will look like in 2025 and beyond. The remaining eight institutions will work together in a collaborative manner to thoughtfully and strategically positioned the Big 12 Conference for continued success, both athletically and academically, long into the future period.”
The Big 12 Media Grant of Rights extends through June 30, 2025. Oklahoma and Texas could decide to leave the conference before that date, but it would cost them, potentially, upwards of $70-80 million in exit fees to do so.
