SEC Officially Add Texas and Oklahoma By Unanimous Vote
The Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners have officially been admitted as members of the Southeastern Conference on Thursday, following a unanimous 14-0 vote by the SEC Presidents.
The move now increases the size of the SEC from 14 to 16 teams, reuniting the Longhorns and the Sooners with former Big 12 foes Texas A&M and Missouri, who left to join the SEC after the 2011 season.
Per the SEC:
The Presidents and Chancellors of the Southeastern Conference on Thursday voted unanimously today to extend membership invitations to the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas to join the SEC effective July 1, 2025, with competition to begin in all sports for the 2025-26 academic year.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey communicated the invitations to the respective presidents of the two universities following today's videoconference meeting of the Conference's Presidents and Chancellors. The meeting was convened after the two universities submitted separate requests for membership invitations to the SEC on Tuesday, July 27.
"Today's unanimous vote is both a testament to the SEC's longstanding spirit of unity and mutual cooperation, as well as a recognition of the outstanding legacies of academic and athletic excellence established by the Universities of Oklahoma and Texas," said Commissioner Sankey. "I greatly appreciate the collective efforts of our Presidents and Chancellors in considering and acting upon each school's membership interest."
Today's actions are in accordance with SEC Bylaw 3.1.2, which authorizes the Chief Executive Officers of the Conference to extend invitations for membership if at least three-fourths of its 14 member institutions vote to approve.
Despite being one of the most storied rivalries in all of college sports, Texas and Texas A&M have not taken the field against one another since the initial move of the Aggies from the Big 12, and have struggled to find common ground in any attempt to revive that rivalry.
Now they have no choice. Texas and Oklahoma are coming.
Texas leads the all-time series with the Aggies by a 76-37-5 margin, with the Longhorns winning the last game in College Station in 2011, and the Aggies winning the last game in Austin in 2010.
Texas had also won nine of their previous 12 matchups against the Aggies before the rivalry took its hiatus.
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The Longhorns have also been largely successful against SEC competition throughout their history, holding an all-time record of 191-8-89 against the conference, including a 7-1-1 record against Alabama, and a 4-1 record over Georgia.
As they have previously indicated, the Longhorns and Sooners are prepared to wait to make the official transition until the current grant of rights agreement expires, which is slated to run until July 1, 2025.
Should the two schools elect to move earlier, they would be forced to forgo their remaining Big 12 television revenue of $160 million -- $80 million each.
However, that does not mean the move will not happen sooner.
Either way, Texas and Oklahoma have found their new home.
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