The Southeastern Conference granted membership to Oklahoma and Texas on July 30.
Membership is slated to begin for the Longhorns and Sooners on July 1, 2025.
Following news of expansion, former Texas A&M and Mississippi State head coach Jackie Sherrill joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” and discussed Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC.
Sherrill discussed how he predicted conference expansion in 1989.
“1989, January, I did a FOX TVshow, an hour show, that we drew the map of the U.S., and the program was we would have four major conferences with 16-20 teams in a each conference,” Sherrill said. “At that time, everybody kind of blew it off, but the realization, we have to understand, and it is called college football fans. The college football fans dictate your program, your conference.”
Sherrill also discussed how conference expansion is not finished following Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC.
“I have said this all along, that we were not through with expansions of teams moving,” Sherrill said. “The reason that is, ESPN wants to make money. FOX wants to make money. ESPN knows that if they added two or four more teams, and the right teams, and increase their footprint, then they would be able to demand more from the advertisers, and the package they would put together, that FOX, CBS, NBC could not match. That’s basically where we are today.
“Is it over with — no. We will still have quite a few teams that will be struggling and trying to get into a conference. Right now, we know that this is another nail in the coffin of the NCAA because it is a very short time before the NCAA will have any input in the Power Five conferences, which will end up being the Power Four conferences.”
The entire show with Sherrill can be listened to here or below. Sherrill further discusses conference expansion and the Texas A&M-Texas rivalry.
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