Texas and Oklahoma have contacted the SEC to express interest in joining the league, sources with knowledge of the situation reported to Stadium Wednesday.
The league’s media grant of rights expires in 2025 and neither school is reportedly interested in renewing that grant.
“I felt all along this was inevitable,” a source within the Big 12 stated in the report. “Texas and Oklahoma were never willing to talk about extending our grant of rights early. Our league has always depended on Texas and Oklahoma — for a lot of good reasons and a lot of bad reasons.
“Texas has always had a wandering eye for a while and been tough to deal with. It’s hard to keep them happy or satisfied. OU has no choice but to join Texas. At the end of the day, this is all about survival. When the music stops, how many chairs are left?”
Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle broke the story Wednesday, which caused a firestorm throughout the college sports media landscape. It also prompted questions to Texas A&M athletics director Ross Bjork Wednesday. Bjork flatly stated his team’s thoughts at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama.
“We want to be the only SEC team from the state of Texas,” Bjork said, as reported by SI‘s Ross Dellenger.
“There’s a reason why Texas A&M left the Big 12 – to be stand alone & have our own identity. That’s our feeling,” he added.
Expansion would require an affirmative vote from 11 of the 14 league member institutions — or, with A&M likely out of the picture, 10 of 13. This would clearly not be an immediate change, as SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey reiterated in remarks Wednesday.
“We are only worried about the 2021 season,” Sankey said.
Both schools initially denied the reports.
“The college athletics landscape is shifting constantly. We don’t address every anonymous rumor,” commented Oklahoma. For Texas’ part, it said: “Speculation swirls around collegiate athletics. We will not address rumors or speculation.”
Those comments were seemingly refuted in a report late Wednesday.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
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