It’s official: Texas, Oklahoma leaving the Big 12, likely for SEC. Bowlsby comments
Texas and Oklahoma took the first official step to leave the Big 12 Conference on Monday.
“The University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin notified the Big 12 Athletic Conference today that they will not be renewing their grants of media rights following expiration in 2025,” the two schools announced in a joint statement.
It’s expected that the Longhorns and Sooners will become members of the Southeastern Conference.
The timetable for a move is unknown.
The Longhorns and Sooners were charter members of the Big 12, which opened for competition in 1996-97. They will become the fifth and sixth schools to leave the league since its inception. Colorado departed for the Pac-12 and Nebraska the Big Ten in 2011, and a year later Missouri and Texas A&M left for the SEC.
The Big 12 added TCU and West Virginia and continued as a 10-team conference since then.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he was “disappointed” in the action from Texas and Oklahoma and says the league will carry on.
“Although our eight members are disappointed with the decisions of these two institutions, we recognize that intercollegiate athletics is experiencing rapid change and will most likely look much different in 2025 than it does currently,” Bowlsby said. “The Big 12 Conference will continue to support our member institutions’ efforts to graduate student-athletes, and compete for Big 12 and NCAA championships.
“Like many others, we will use the next four years to fully assess what the landscape will look like in 2025 and beyond. The remaining eight institutions will work together in a collaborative manner to thoughtfully and strategically position the Big 12 Conference for continued success, both athletically and academically, long into the future.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2021 at 10:00 AM with the headline "It’s official: Texas, Oklahoma leaving the Big 12, likely for SEC. Bowlsby comments."