The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will remain bitter rivals for the foreseeable future. It just won’t be in the Big 12 after the 2023 season.
It was previously noted that the two college football powerhouses were set to leave that conference for the SEC after the 2024 campaign.
According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, their departures will now be expedited with the two moving on to the SEC after the upcoming season.
“By reaching this agreement, we are now able to accelerate our new beginning as a 12-team league,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement.
Once Texas and Oklahoma move on to the SEC, it will become the first 16-team major conference in the college football world with realignment likely in the cards. This would likely include the two heated rivals joining their former SEC foe in that of Texas A&M in the SEC West with Alabama and Georgia headlining the SEC East Division.
As part of their agreement to leave for the SEC, Texas and Oklahoma will pay out a combined $100 million to the Big 12. This sum will reportedly be distributed among the eight legacy Big 12 programs as a way to help offset the expected decrease in revenue for the 2024 college football season.
Central Florida, Houston and Cincinnati will join the Big 12 Conference in July after reaching a buyout agreement with the American Athletic Conference. Meanwhile, BYU will also join the conference for football this coming fall.
There’s also an expectation that the Big 12 will ultimately poach Pac-12 football programs at some point in the not-so-distant future.
As for Texas and Oklahoma, it’s going to be much more difficult existing in the SEC moving forward. The Longhorns posted an 8-5 record under Steve Sarkisian this past season while the Sooners were a mere 6-7 in their first season without legendary head coach Lincoln Riley.