According to a report from Ross Dellenger of SI.com, the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns have reached an early exit agreement that will allow the Red River Rivals to depart for the SEC in time for the 2024 season.
Since the initial announcement back in the summer of 2021, speculation ran rampant about when the two schools would leave the conference they’ve called home since 1996. In the last couple of months, negotiations between Oklahoma and Texas and the Big 12 began to heat up, with an actual offer being presented to the conference in the last couple of weeks. The Big 12 rejected that offer at the time.
Late last week, it was reported that the talks between the departing members and the conference had stalled. Apparently, that was only temporary.
According to the report, Texas and Oklahoma will pay a combined $100 million exit fee to the Big 12 conference. The fee helps offset the loss in media revenue the remaining eight schools took when they admitted BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.
The general feeling around college football was that Brett Yormark and the Big 12 were motivated to come to a win-win agreement with Oklahoma and Texas. However, Fox, one of the networks that held the Big 12’s media rights, was less likely to relent, seeking equitable value to offset the loss of OU and Texas to its competitor, the SEC.
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๐ฆ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ#BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/vTCLL0VJjC— Oklahoma Sooners (@OU_Athletics) February 10, 2023
Now with the Sooners and the Longhorns heading to the SEC in 2024, the next question is, what will the conference schedule look like? The SEC is looking at a non-divisional format that will have the league playing nine conference games.
With the agreement, everyone can begin to move forward and plan for the future. Brett Yormark and the Big 12 can work to feature their conference as it will be without so much discussion about if and when an early exit might occur. Oklahoma, Texas, and the SEC can begin planning for what will be an incredibly fun conference slate.
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