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Amid news on Friday that the Big 12 will add four new members in 2023, it looks like Oklahoma and Texas will not make their own transition to the conference in the same timeline. Instead, 2024 “is still a more realistic target date” for the Sooners and Longhorns to reach the SEC, according to the Austin-American Statesman, focusing on the possibility of a strange 2023-24 Big 12 season.
The Big 12 has operated with only 10 members since the 2011 season following the departure of Missouri and Texas A&M for the SEC. But it would have 14 schools in 2023-24 if Oklahoma and Texas stayed a season after joining BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF. If Oklahoma and Texas wanted to join the SEC in 2023, when the Big 12 welcomes its new members, schools would have to pay the planned nine-figure exit fees to break the league’s media rights concession, he said. previously reported Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports.
However, these tariffs are expected to be more manageable in 2024 before the 2025 expiration date of the current agreement with the average of the 12 grains. The SEC’s official word on the readjustment of the conference last year was that Oklahoma and Texas would become members of the league on July 1, 2025, although it has long been speculated that it was likely an earlier date.
The Big 12 has been operating under the assumption that both the Sooners and Longhorns would remain in the conference during the 2024-25 season. The league is preparing for the possibility of two seasons with a configuration of 14 teams, which would involve splitting into two divisions for football.