College football realignment news: A chance that OU, Texas could leave early?

Texas and Oklahoma kicked off the latest phase of college football realignment with their bombshell announcement of joining the SEC.

That move is technically scheduled to happen prior to the 2025 football season, but could the two powerhouses leave the Big 12 before then?

ESPN college football insider Heather Dinich noted that anything seems possible in the current environment, but that economics could prevent an early exit.

Texas and Oklahoma departure date

“Incoming commissioner Brett Yormark told reporters he is open to negotiations,” Dinich said on ESPN. “He said that when it comes to that, the best thing he wants to do is be in the best interest of the Big 12. So we’ll see where that stands."

Texas and Oklahoma would have to fork over some serious money if they want to join college football's premier conference before 2025.

“They have to pay an $80 million per school exit fee if they leave early," she said.

"And the official word from the SEC and the Big 12 is that that’s going to happen on July 1, 2025.

"If it does happen early, 2024 seems to be the most realistic timeline because of the TV contracts that are currently in place. There’s some serious legal unraveling that would have to happen in order for that to happen.”

College football realignment timeline

The decision from Texas and Oklahoma to leave the Big 12 and join the SEC started a domino effect over the next year that's still taking place.

The first big move that came in reaction was from inside the Big 12 itself, which added four new member schools: independent BYU and AAC members Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.

Those schools are scheduled to join the Big 12 in time for the 2023 football season, which means they will likely compete against Oklahoma and Texas for at least one season, if not two.

But the most surprising move came on June 30, when the Big Ten announced it accepted the membership of USC and UCLA, pulling two high-profile Los Angeles-based programs into the Midwestern league and forever changing the face of college football.

For the time being, it appears the realignment process has pressed pause, but not without some unanswered questions.

Reports still contend that Oregon and Washington might be in play, while ACC members Clemson, Florida State, and Miami could entertain a move to the SEC if they can find a way out of its ironclad media rights deal with their own league.

Plus, there are still rumors that the Big 12 and Pac-12 could merge into its own super-conference arrangement.

And people inside the Big Ten are all open about that conference wanting to add Notre Dame, which has maintained its football independence from the beginning.

But who could be coaxed into a league - if the price is right.

Where this all stops, nobody knows.

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