Texas, Oklahoma hope to join SEC by 2024 college football season, per report
Four new schools will be joining the Big 12 in 2023, while two more are set to leave in 2024, according to a new report from Austin American-Statesman.
Texas and Oklahoma are leaving for the SEC and set 2024 as the "more realistic target date" for the bombshell exit from the Big 12.
Originally, it was expected the two schools would join the SEC in 2025, when the current Big 12 grant of rights expires.
Any earlier departure date, and the schools would almost certainly be on the hook for a huge buyout to the Big 12 reportedly around $75 million each.
But reports indicate that the exit fee would be more manageable in 2024, hence the schools' desire to leave the conference in that year instead.
RELATED: Big 12 to add Cincinnati, Houston, UCF for 2023 college football season
The official word from the SEC was that Texas and Oklahoma would join the conference on July 1, 2025, but most people in the know expected the schools wouldn't wait that long, and were looking for a cheaper way out.
If this plan comes to fruition, the Big 12 will have 14 teams for the 2023 football season, once it adds BYU, Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF.
The league has been comprised of 10 teams since 2011, when Missouri and Texas A&M both left for the SEC.
(h/t Austin American Statesman)
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