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A bombshell report came out of the Houston Chronicle Wednesday when it was reported that Texas and Oklahoma have reached out to the SEC about joining the conference.
From the report, which you can read here though the link is behind a paywall.
Texas and Oklahoma of the Big 12 have both reached out to the Southeastern Conference about potentially joining the powerful league, a high-ranking college official with knowledge of the situation told the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday.
An announcement could come within a couple of weeks concerning the potential addition of UT and OU to the league, he person said, which would give the SEC schools and make it the first national super-conference.
College realignment was a hot topic in the 2010s, chock full of rumors and speculation about the possible emergence of four 16-team super conferences. Now, nine years after the SEC extended an invite to Texas A&M and Missouri, the rumors are flying again though there seems to be quite a bit of fire to the smoke.
Texas & OU contacted SEC about leaving Big 12 & SEC has interest in both schools, sources told @Stadium. “This will take some time but there is interest on both sides,” source said. UT planning to notify Big 12 it doesn’t want to extend grant of rights https://t.co/1dYm5pp2xG
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 22, 2021
There were also these non-denials, the first from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey:
Greg Sankey: “no comment on that speculation” on Texas and okla to the SEC
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) July 21, 2021
Then a second non-denial from Sankey:
SEC commish Greg Sankey on Houston Chronicle report about Texas, Oklahoma enquiring about joining the SEC: “We are only worried about the 2021 season. Somebody dropped a report from unnamed people”
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 21, 2021
And finally, Oklahoma put out maybe the most massive of all the non-denials:
Oklahoma statement on report of Sooners & Texas interest in joining SEC: "The college athletics landscape is shifting constantly. We don’t address every anonymous rumor."
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 21, 2021
The funniest part of all this was that the Houston Chronicle report dropped basically right as Jimbo Fisher took the podium at SEC Media Days. Speaking of Texas A&M, the Aggies are big mad about the prospects of Texas—even though they aren’t rivals?—and Oklahoma joining the conference.
Texas A&M AD Ross Bjork on news that Texas and OU could be coming to the SEC: “We want to be the only SEC team from the state of Texas.”
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 21, 2021
If there was some type of action taken by the SEC to extend an invite to Texas, Oklahoma, or any school for that matter, it will need 11 of the 14 current schools to vote yes. A&M, obviously, would vote no on extending an invite and you’d assume Missouri would too. Can the former Big 12 members get two more schools to come over to their line of thinking or will the money schools stand to gain by adding marquee programs like Texas and Oklahoma talk louder?
If Texas and Oklahoma were to join, the SEC would have to realign its divisions and LSU could stand to benefit.
New SEC Divisions
West
Arkansas
LSU
Mississippi State
Missouri
Oklahoma
Ole Miss
Texas
Texas A&M
East
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Florida
Kentucky
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
If it’s up to me, sign me the hell up for this. I get Alabama out of the West and in turn have an easier path to Atlanta? Yes, please.
What about, y’all? How do you feel about Texas and Oklahoma potentially joining the SEC? We’ll have more as this story evolves.