Exclusive: Texas, Oklahoma reach out to SEC about joining conference
Brent Zwerneman , Staff writer Updated: July 21, 2021 8:17 p.m. Comments
Texas and Oklahoma have been conference rivals since the Big 12 formed in 1996. But the schools could be moving to the SEC after inquiring about membership in the league, a high-ranking insider told the Houston Chronicle.
Michael Ainsworth/Associated PressHOOVER, Ala. — A decade after major conference realignment shook up college football, big changes might again be on the horizon.
Texas and Oklahoma of the Big 12 have reached out to the Southeastern Conference about joining the powerful league, a high-ranking college official with knowledge of the situation told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday.
An announcement could come within a couple of weeks concerning the potential addition of UT and OU to the league, the person said, which would give the SEC 16 schools and make it the first national superconference.
"Speculation swirls around collegiate athletics," UT responded in a statement Wednesday. "We will not address rumors or speculation."
OU, in its own similar statement, offered: "The college athletics landscape is shifting constantly. We don't address every anonymous rumor."
ALSO SEE: Texas A&M's move to the SEC more complicated, book reveals
Texas A&M exited the Big 12 nine years ago this month, and along with Big 12 ex Missouri gave the SEC 14 teams, its number ever since. UT's addition to the SEC would also mean the Aggies and Longhorns would again meet annually on the football field for the first time since 2011.
Alabama and Auburn would likely shift to the SEC East from the SEC West with the addition of the Longhorns and Sooners.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey declined comment.
A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said the Aggies' stance is clear: A&M wants to be the only program from the SEC in the state of Texas.
"There's a reason why A&M left the Big 12: the way the Big 12 was operating and the governance," Bjork said Wednesday while attending the third of four SEC Media Days. "A&M is a flagship university, and with the size and scale of our place, we should have our own stand-alone identity in our own conference.
"That's why A&M's leadership left at the time (in 2012), and that's what we want to continue."
Bjork said while A&M wants to remain the lone team from the state of Texas in the SEC, "I also know college athletics is evolving and the SEC should be in the lead in that."
He added, "As far as specifics, we don't know anything about (the potential additions), and we haven't been briefed on anything."
Bjork said forward thinking on the SEC's part should be bigger than adding UT and OU to the mix.
"We've got to look bigger picture than just how do we do this for these two programs," Bjork said. "It's got to be a bigger approach. We've got to think bigger than that to me — that's where my mindset is. It can't just be adding two programs."
Bjork declined to predict A&M's response if it's outvoted among the league's members to include UT and OU. A yes vote of three-fourths of the league's members, via its chancellors and/or presidents, is required to join the SEC, according to league bylaws.
Another person with knowledge of the schools' interest in jumping to the SEC said it could be the first step in the long-awaited break between haves and have-nots in the college sports world. Most of those scenarios have involved four superconferences of 16 schools each, but the observer said the eventual winnowing down could result in an NFL-like scenario with as few as 20 to 30 schools in the top tier.
The eventual impact, the second source said, could be the biggest change agent in college sports since the 1984 court decision involving Oklahoma and Georgia that allowed schools to market certain media rights without being limited to conference-only agreements.
"You're going to see shifts happen like they've never happened before," he added, "but it's not going to happen for another three years."
The recent developments in athletics (possible expansion of the college football playoff) and legal circles (players' ability to profit from their name, image and likeness) are leading Oklahoma and Texas to consider moves based not on regional or competitive ties but on economic forces.
The Big 12's TV contract with ESPN and Fox expires in 2025. Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec said in May that the two networks had declined to discuss extending the contract past 2025.
"The general result is that, at this time, with so much uncertainty in the media marketplace as well as the landscape for collegiate athletics, our partners, ESPN and FOX, are not interested in acting preemptively with regard to our contract," Schovanec told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in late May. "They recognize the importance of our partnership, but there's just too much uncertainty, and they do have four years to go."
As colleges face new challenges with name, image and likeness reforms and the recent Supreme Court decision that cast doubt on the NCAA's beloved "student-athlete" model, the second source said, more powerful schools will seek to protect their economic base by flocking to like-minded superpowers.
"Schools have worked so hard to hide the fact that the collegiate game is nothing but the NFL hiding behind the veil of education," the second source said. "Sports is mirroring what is happening in the broader context of society. It is not exempt from the same forces that affected K-mart or Blockbuster, who enjoyed success but were not able to change. To survive, you have to be able to change in real time."
Even NCAA president Mark Emmert acknowledges the need for change, telling reporters last week that the time might be right to consider a more deregulated version of college sports that allows more options for conferences and individual schools, as well as for athletes.
"Athletic directors see the writing on the wall," Emmert said. "They're MBAs and guys who were in advertising. They're not former coaches. They're looking to leverage whatever they can. Football is business and always has been. They just tried to hide it behind the shield of education."
Eleven years ago, UT and A&M mulled exiting the Big 12 and perhaps joining the Pac-12 before promises of more league payout from then-Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe kept them together in the Big 12 for the time being. That move, which also included Oklahoma, didn't sit well with other schools in their states. Texas Tech and Baylor pushed state legislators in Texas for influence to be included, as did Oklahoma State.
Responding to Wednesday's news, Oklahoma State said: "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 would be gravely disappointed. While we place a premium on history, loyalty and trust, be assured, we will aggressively defend and advance what is best for Oklahoma State and our strong athletic program, which continues to excel in the Big 12 and nationally."
A&M coach Jimbo Fisher was asked Wednesday about UT and OU perhaps wanting to join the SEC, which paid its schools $44.6 million last year from television rights fees. The Big 12 paid $38.3 million.
"I bet they would," Fisher said with a chuckle. "I don't know — I'm just worried about A&M. We've got the greatest league in (football). … I control what I (can) control here."
Correspondent David Barron contributed to this report.
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