Texas Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners unanimously accept the invitation to the SEC

The schools announced Friday that the Texas and Oklahoma boards of governors unanimously formally approved admission as SEC members.

Oklahoma’s board of directors approved Sooners ’possible transfer to the SEC at a meeting on Friday shortly after the Texas government did the same to Longhorns. It eases the formalities of the week that will eventually make the SEC the first 16-team super conference.

“This is the right decision at the right time for the future of our UT athletics programs,” Texas President Jay Hartzell said in a statement.

The next step is to determine when the move will take place – and what will happen to the eight Big 12 schools that fall behind. On Monday, Texas and Oklahoma issued a joint statement saying they plan to stay in the Big 12 on June 30, 2025, when the current Big 12 media rights agreement expires – but it is possible that schools will try to leave earlier. Each university should pay a fine of at least $ 75-80 million for violating the agreement or hoping the Big 12 will break up before the agreement ends.

“We told the big 12 that we were going to honor our current agreement,” Hartzell said, “even though we knew the announcement was now the fairest way to give the conference a chance to plan for its future after 2025.”

OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. and Sports Director Joe Castiglione also said Oklahoma plans to honor its commitment to the Big 12 by June 2025.

“After careful consideration and investigation, it became clear that standing will lag behind,” Castiglione said. “It would mean putting our program in a precarious position, both competitively and financially. It would leave us to catch up with our competition.”

Harroz and Castiglione said they hope to continue the Bedlam competition with Oklahoma State after the Big 12 contract expires and plan to continue playing in Dallas, Texas.

Texas Sports Director Chris Del Conte, who had declined to make public comments on the item, showed enthusiasm for the vote.

“Today is an exciting day,” Del Conte said. “There are a lot of opportunities on the horizon, and we know our great future. So when we go to the Big 12 this fall, we will compete as fiercely as ever and strive to be champions on and off the field and represent our league with the pride and passion that embodies Texas Longhorn. tradition and history, and we will continue to compete as proud members of the Big 12 as we prepare for the future in the SEC in 2025. ”

Harroz said it became clear to the OU board that the Big 12 was “the last in line” when dealing with media legal negotiations. He noted the football matches in the conference starting at 11 p.m.

“It means disadvantages in recruiting top gifts, disadvantages for our student athletes, and harm to the fan experience,” he said.

On Thursday, 14 SEC presidents and the federal chancellor voted unanimously to send invitations to Big 12 founders Oklahoma and Texas to join the league.

“This is an important moment for the Southeast Conference and the long-term future of our member universities,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said on Friday. “Oklahoma and Texas are excellent academic institutions with two strong athletics programs that increase the SEC’s national visibility.”

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who accused ESPN on Wednesday of “manipulating other conferences after our members,” said Thursday that the SEC’s statement “confirms that these plans have been underway in discussions with the parties and the television partner for some time.”

“We are disappointed that these discussions went as far as they went unannounced or did not include other Big 12 members,” Bowlsby said in a statement. “Despite our concerns about the process and the overall health of college athletics, we will do our best to ensure that athletes from both universities enjoy an excellent experience of four years of participating and competing in the Big 12 Conference.”

ESPN responded to Bowlsby’s allegations earlier Thursday by saying it “did no wrong”.