Steve Spurrier on Texas Moving to SEC: 'They Can’t Win the Big 12 Anyway'

Few people in college football are more synonymous with the SEC than Steve Spurrier. On Wednesday, the Heisman Trophy–winning Florida quarterback turned Gators and South Carolina coach addressed the possibility of Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference.

When asked by reporters about the Longhorns' potential move, Spurrier said, “I can understand Texas jumping over. They get to play Texas A&M again. They get to, they can’t win the Big 12 anyway. I think they’ve only won two in the last 30 years or so. So I can see Texas jumping over—more money, playing A&M, this, that and the other."

Spurrier was slightly exaggerating, as the Longhorns won the first Big 12 conference championship game in 1996 and later took home the conference title in 2005 and 2009. But in recent years, Texas hasn't had as much success. The Longhorns have only finished the season in the AP Top 25 four times since their BCS championship loss in 2009. 

Spurrier also addressed Oklahoma's possible move to the SEC.

“They are the champion of the Big 12. I mean, they win it almost every year. They’ve won what, four, five in a row, something like that?” Spurrier said. “I just don’t think they are going to come over to the SEC and win with any regularity the way they win the Big 12. Their fans, they may say, ‘Yeah, now we can beat Alabama and LSU and all these dudes.’ It may not happen like that.”

“It’s obviously more money. I feel sad for the other [Big 12] schools—Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State and all those guys. They obviously need those two schools there. But, looks like it’s gonna happen. Maybe it will work out for the best.”

On Thursday afternoon, the SEC will vote on whether to accept both Texas and Oklahoma into the conference. On Tuesday, the two schools sent formal applications to the SEC, having previously announced their intention to end Big 12 grants of media rights when they expire in 2025.