Oklahoma and Texas Look to Join SEC Conference

Date: July 28, 2021

By: John Makuch

The Texas and Oklahoma logos are shown on a college football field.

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Well, it's official, the University of Texas and University of Oklahoma will be leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC. This move can happen at the latest in 2025, since the fee to move earlier would be over $76 million.

This move was a shock but not a surprise when you look at the financial reasoning for the move. The Big 12 made $409.2 million in fiscal revenue in 2020, while the SEC raked in $728.9 million. Adding two "blue bloods" of college football increases that number exponentially for the SEC as well.

NEWS | Statement from @SEC Commissioner @GregSankey: pic.twitter.com/6K9xW2sJ2o
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) July 27, 2021

From a football perspective, this makes a great deal of sense for Oklahoma, and even Texas if new head coach Steve Sarkisian can revitalize that program. Both schools have had great performances against SEC schools in recent years, especially in bowl games.

We just saw the Sooners take down the Florida Gators in the 2020 Cotton Bowl in a 55-20 blowout, while the Longhorns took down the Georgia Bulldogs 28-21 in the 2019 Sugar Bowl. These schools will be able to hang in their new conference, but the adjustment may be rough for Texas in particular.

The Tom Herman coaching era saw mediocre seasons with solid bowl wins to keep the program respectable. 2018 was their best season since the 2009 National Championship of the Mack Brown era. The team finished ninth in the AP Poll, finishing second in their conference with a 7-2 conference record and a 10-2 record overall.

Texas head coach Tom Herman stands on the sideline during a college football game.

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

In the three other years with Herman, Texas only had five conference wins in each of those seasons. But now the Longhorns will have to compete in a more difficult conference after not having won the Big 12 since 2009. The early days for Texas may be rough for football based on their recent lack of success, but the SEC could be an opportunity to return to their old ways of winning with new coaching.

Oklahoma on the other hand has not been perfect, but six straight Big 12 championships speak for themselves. Back-to-back Heisman quarterbacks and multiple College Football Playoff appearances contribute to the list of how Oklahoma has seen growing success.

Baker Mayfield celebrates during an Oklahoma Sooners football game.

Paxson Haws/The Daily

They are still looking for a win in the current College Football Playoff format, but they have hung in every game against SEC schools besides the LSU team with Joe Burrow that not even Clemson had a chance against.

Oklahoma winning the Big 12 has been a near guarantee to the Playoff, so joining the SEC would make reaching the Playoff harder, right? True with the current format, but with a 12-team format arriving around the same time they join the SEC, Oklahoma will have no issue reaching this new postseason.

The college football trophy is displayed in the middle of the College Football Playoff bracket.

Ringer Illustration/Getty Images

Oklahoma's previously porous defense has greatly improved statistically and recruiting-wise with defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, and they have been getting better and better as a team each year. Oklahoma had a rough start with two straight losses in 2020, but the team continued to win the rest of their games and won handily in the previously mentioned Cotton Bowl. The 2018 Rose Bowl against Georgia is one of the greatest games in the history of college football, so to say that Oklahoma would not be competitive in the SEC would be hard to argue.

As for a list of teams that Oklahoma would truly struggle to deal with, Alabama seems to be the only one that would be a near guarantee for a loss. But a guaranteed loss to Alabama also applies to all but one or two schools each year in college football.

Nick Saban stands on the sidelines during an Alabama football game.

Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

As for Texas, they are a middle-of-the-pack team if they were to join the SEC; Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, and Texas A&M were all better last year and in many previous years. Texas will need to rebound as a program under Sarkisian if they want to step into the upper echelon of the SEC. If not, they will be embarrassed almost every Saturday.

However, Oklahoma and Texas being able to take on Texas A&M again are great games for college football regardless of how good these teams are. They will most likely be playing each other once a year, and those games will be heated and exciting rivalry matchups.

Fans of these teams have had continued to have heated discussions on social media and in the real world. But the last times the Aggies took either team on was 2013 against Oklahoma and 2011 against Texas. The hatred is still alive and well, and it has been boiling ever since, so now it is ready to burst once the Sooners and Longhorns join the SEC.

As for the Big 12 that Oklahoma and Texas have left in the dust, the conference will see more shakeups besides these two teams. Kansas has reportedly been in talks with the Big Ten to join that conference, which would be great for basketball, but football remains to struggle. Iowa State may soon follow and join the Big Ten with their rival Iowa. The Cyclones have created a solid program with head coach Matt Campbell, and they would compete almost anywhere now.

Random thought but if Iowa State secures a spot in the Big Ten, then Matt Campbell goes down as most important figure in school history for getting them to that level.
— Trey Scott (@TreyScott247) July 23, 2021

Oklahoma State could go just about anywhere, as the Pac-12 could be calling their name along with other Big 12 teams. A merger of these two conferences could solve the issue created by the current situation.

The merger would all but confirm the idea that college football is heading towards three or four "super conferences" with close to 20 teams each. But this is not necessarily a bad thing, since each conference will have multiple strong teams rather than just one dominant program. Schools would also make much more money this way, and fans would see better matchups and more competitive conferences. That’s makes this a win-win for all fans and schools alike.

The domino effect of the decision of these two schools will unfold in the next year. College football is changing as we know it, and all we can do is be excited for what is to come.

John Makuch can be reached at john.makuch@student.shu.edu.

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