Texas, Oklahoma Officially Submit Membership Request into SEC Starting in 2025
On Tuesday, Texas and Oklahoma submitted a request to join the SEC for the 2025 season, marking another step in the two powerhouse programs joining the most dominant conference in college athletics.
SEC commisioner Greg Sankey released a statement shortly after the two schools announced a request into the conference:
"While the SEC has not proactively sought new members, we will pursue significant change when there is a clear concensus among our members that such actions will further enrich the experiences of our student-athletes and lead to greater academic and athletic achievement across our campuses."
Sankey's statement also confirmed that the SEC will consider adding Oklahoma and Texas to the conference "in the near future" and that it will require a 3/4 vote of the 14 schools in the SEC to pass. This is just another significant development in what feels like an inevitable addition to the conference.
The vote will be the next step and it is interesting that Sankey mentioned 2025 as the date. Texas and Oklahoma are under media rights with the Big 12 until 2025 but there were reports that the two schools would try to get out of the TV deal earlier than the 2025 expiration date on the contract.
Right now there only appears to be one school that's publicly against allowing the two programs, more specificially Texas, into the SEC and that's Texas A&M. The Aggies and Longhorns held a bitter rivalry for over 100 years, meeting 184 times before Texas A&M announced in 2012 it'd be leaving the Big 12 along with Missouri, to join the SEC.
It was the end of an era and one that fans had hoped would return but the two teams haven't played since 2011. One of the main reasons Texas A&M is deadset on not allowing Texas into the SEC is because its unique position as the only Texas team in the SEC.
"We love being the only school in the state of Texas in the SEC," athletic director Ross Bjork said on the Paul Finebaum Show. "We're going to maintain that position, but we're also going to make sure that we're a leader in college athletics and we'll see what the future holds."
The Aggies are coming off a 9-1 season in 2020, just barely missing out on the College Football Playoff. Coach Jimbo Fisher gave a short response when first asked about the possibility of Texas and Oklahoma wanting to join the SEC.
"I bet they would," Fisher said.
The TV deals would likely skyrocket for the conference by adding two of the more well known programs to the SEC so it makes sense from a financial standpoint, especially considering the impact COVID-19 had on college athletics financially.
Because it appears these talks have been rumbling for many months, it seems like this move will happen. What the structure of the SEC looks like is anybody's guess, but we took a stab at it this week. It would be a monumental shift in power and make the SEC a true "superconference" in college athletics.
