Texas, Oklahoma Agree to Leave Big 12; Reportedly Will Apply to Join SEC

Roger Steinman/Associated Press

The University of Texas and University of Oklahoma announced Monday they’ve informed the Big 12 they will not renew their media rights agreements with the conference after 2025, the first concrete sign they’re planning to leave the conference. 

Stadium’s Brett McMurphy provided the schools’ joint statement and reported the next step will be applying for SEC membership:

Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday that the SEC had reached out to both Texas and Oklahoma about joining the conference.

On Friday, Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman reported that a source said the move was “almost done.” The source added: “They’ve been working on this for a minimum of six months, and the [Texas] A&M leadership was left out of discussions and wasn’t told about it.”

Per ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Mark Schlabach, the Big 12 released a statement on Thursday, writing: “There is a recognition that institutions may act in their own self-interest, however there is an expectation that members adhere to Conference bylaws and the enforcement of Grant of Rights agreements.”

Dinich and Schlabach noted that Big 12 athletic directors, presidents and chancellors held a videoconference on Thursday to discuss the rumored departure of Texas and Oklahoma, but both Texas and Oklahoma declined to participate.

It was also reported by Dinich and Schlabach that the Big 12 bylaws state any school planning to move to a new conference must provide notice 18 months in advance. They also must pay a large “commitment buyout fee.”

Although the timing of Texas and Oklahoma arriving to the SEC remains uncertain, their expected addition will turn it into a 16-team super-conference, while the Big 12 will be left with only eight teams.

The Big 12 has some options to replace Texas and Oklahoma, including poaching teams from other power conferences or taking in some of the top Group of Five or FBS Independent football programs like Houston, Cincinnati, UCF and BYU.

With the impending move, Texas’ 25-year run in the Big 12 will end. Oklahoma was also in the Big 12 from its infancy in 1996, but it dates even further back to the Big 6 in 1928.

Meanwhile, the Big 12 will be without its two biggest programs, losing teams that have won a total of 17 conference titles and two national titles since 1996.