When the Southeastern Conference announced the addition of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners to the conference, the move wasn’t planned to happen until the 2025 season.
That SEC expansion move will reportedly now ‘likely’ be happening sooner, according to a bombshell report released by Stewart Mandel, Max Olson and Andy Staples of The Athletic Friday:
For 18 months, the Big 12, OU and Texas insisted the schools will stay until 2025.
Something changed at a Big 12 meeting in Vegas last week, and now multiple sources tell @TheAthletic they expect they’ll reach an agreement to leave early. https://t.co/1eHhYkwkI2
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 16, 2022
“For 18 months, the Big 12, OU and Texas insisted the schools will stay until 2025. Something changed at a Big 12 meeting in Vegas last week, and now multiple sources tell The Athletic they expect they’ll reach an agreement to leave early,” Stewart Mandel tweeted.
Nothing is final, according to the report. However, that didn’t stop the college football world reacting to the news in typical fashion, with some noting remaining challenges and some pointing out many had expected this.
Big 12 officials spent significant time on the Texas/OU issue during meetings in Las Vegas last week. All parties agree that an early split should happen.
However, the issue goes beyond money and involves TV inventory, which many believe to be a sticking point. https://t.co/PVFfGhOdBD
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 16, 2022
“Big 12 officials spent significant time on the Texas/OU issue during meetings in Las Vegas last week. All parties agree that an early split should happen. However, the issue goes beyond money and involves TV inventory, which many believe to be a sticking point,” Ross Dellenger wrote.
There’s not a single person that thought that would actually happen right? https://t.co/Uvr0VXWPdU
— Eddie Radosevich (@Eddie_Rado) December 16, 2022
“There’s not a single person that thought that would actually happen right?” Eddie Radosevich wrote.
Some very powerful people who could get this done want to get it done — both on the university and conference levels — but the issue as others have shared is a negotiated buyout and, more importantly, TV scheduling/contracts being restructured in short order. https://t.co/HXJQQbY30N
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) December 16, 2022
“Some very powerful people who could get this done want to get it done — both on the university and conference levels — but the issue as others have shared is a negotiated buyout and, more importantly, TV scheduling/contracts being restructured in short order,” Brandon Marcello wrote.
everyone's got a price https://t.co/jlXfXpRweh
— Kegan Reneau (@KeganReneau) December 16, 2022
“Everyone’s got a price,” wrote Kegan Reneau.
As we've discussed early and often on @3ManFront, many in SEC circles believe this will indeed be done in time for 2024. They're getting close, as @Brett_McMurphy and @slmandel have reported this week. https://t.co/1HK7BGFcdK
— Pat Smith (@patsmithradio) December 16, 2022
“As we have discussed,” wrote Pat Smith, “Many in SEC circles believe this will indeed be done in time for 2024.”
Only time will tell if this major move will come to fruition on that timetable or not.
