Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
It appears the Big 12 is willing to give more revenue shares to Oklahoma to keep them in the conference.
The saga continues for the Big 12-SEC pursuit of the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns. Continue reading “Report: Big 12 discussing a decrease in revenue for schools to pay Oklahoma and Texas”
On Saturday, Texas A&M president M. Katherine Banks released a statement on TX/OU potentially joining the SEC.
The chaos continues.
As soon as news broke on Wednesday that Texas and Oklahoma were reportedly interested in joining the SEC, it was clear that Texas A&M was seemingly the one program that was not a fan of the move.
Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork hinted at the fact that the Aggies were unaware of the discussions between the SEC and the two Big 12 powerhouse programs, and even took it a step further to state that they hope to be the only school from the state of Texas in the SEC. Whether this is true or not, it’s clear that their opinion doesn’t carry much weight.
At this point, Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC is imminent and an official announcement is expected to come in the next few weeks. It makes sense from an athletics and revenue standpoint, among many other benefits.
On Saturday, Texas A&M president M. Katherine Banks released a statement on the matter:
The last few days have been challenging in many ways, and I recognize that change in college athletics often is unsettling for those who love their institutions. Rest assured, the chancellor, our athletic director, and I, and everyone involved in this matter are focused solely on what is best for Texas A&M University. Since 2011, we have been a proud member of the best intercollegiate athletic conference in history and we look forward to continued success in our SEC partnership for many years to come.
No matter how you digest the statement, it’s clear that the program as a whole is not taking the Texas/Oklahoma news very well. Unfortunately for the Aggies, there isn’t much they can do to prevent it from happening.
For those wondering if Texas A&M would leave the SEC if Texas and Oklahoma were to join, Banks’ statement should have cleared that up when she stated that they’re looking forward to their continued SEC partnership for many years to come.
Life can come at you fast, just ask Texas A&M.
There is an old adage that secrets aren’t secrets; they’re just not any of your business.
Unfortunately for Texas A&M, their biggest and most hated rival that they had been avoiding since discontinuing the Lone Star Showdown, the Texas Longhorns, have possibly been having secret meetings with Greg Sankey and the rest of the conference with the intentions of joining the SEC. As reported by ESPN, Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork expressed the school was not involved in any conversations on the matter, hinting at the fact they were unaware.
It’s a deal that is all but done. According to The Athletic, Texas and Oklahoma will send letters to the Big 12 on Monday. Unfortunately for the Big 12, the two powerhouse programs will have to tell them “it’s not you, its me.” Texas and Oklahoma do not intend to renew their grant-of-rights agreements, which are set to expire in 2025, and their departure from the Big 12 is imminent.
This is a move that will not only obliterate what was left of the Big 12, but according to ESPN, will break the gentleman’s agreement that Texas A&M thought it had with other SEC schools, which would allow a veto to any new team entering the SEC.
What does this reveal? It is a revelation that the rest of the SEC views Texas A&M as the little kid who is not yet mature enough to sit at the adult table during Thanksgiving dinner, and that they do not care what they have to say. It has been reported that these meetings have been happening for the past six months, and Texas A&M found out … checks watch … when Jimbo Fisher took the podium at SEC media days two days ago like the rest of the world.
Prominent Big 12 source tells the American-Statesman the Texas-OU move to the SEC is almost done. "They've been working on this for a minimum of 6 months, and the A&M leadership was left out of discussions and wasn't told about it." Move could become official in a week.
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) July 23, 2021
There will be a vote held in which Texas A&M will have one last effort to prevent Texas and Oklahoma from entering the conference, but sadly for them, they need three-fourths of the conference to agree.
This could mean the vote will likely be 13-1, and the Aggies will be forced to face the fact the SEC couldn’t care less about what it has to say. The biggest bragging right the Aggies had over Texas and Oklahoma is now gone, and they will have to face the two frequently on the field again.
Denial is the first stage of grief, and is probably where the Aggies find themselves, but Kansas and Iowa State have reportedly both been looking for a new home and are in contact with the Big Ten.
KU REALIGNMENT HEARINGS:
KU has a call set up with the Big Ten.
— Mike Vernon (@M_Vernon) July 23, 2021
Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork wasn’t too fond of the news when speaking to SEC Network on SEC media day this week:
“There’s a reason why we left the Big 12 back in 2011 and started in (the SEC) July 1, 2012. … We wanted to have a standalone identity in the state of Texas and all the turmoil that was happening in college athletics at the time,” Bjork told Paul Finebaum. “The SEC has been a perfect fit for us. And we believe that we want to maintain that same identity.”
Bjork added: “We love being the only program in the state of Texas (in the SEC), and we’re going to maintain that position. But we’re also going to make sure that we are a leader in college athletics, and we’ll see what the future holds.”
Life comes at you fast.
Texas A&M likely just lost both of these coveted desires in the span of three days, and will be one of two Texas teams in the SEC. The tradition is back, and we are learning more on the matter every day, just like the Aggies seem to be.
Texas ex Charles Omenihu is certainly a fan of the move.
It’s been quite the week for college football fans. Continue reading “Schools, former players react to Texas potentially joining the SEC”
Oklahoma skipping the Big 12 meeting was just writing on the wall.
On Thursday afternoon the Big 12 Conference was set to meet with each school’s athletic director and president. The topic of the day surrounding the reports of the Sooners’ intention of leaving the conference. The Southeastern Conference was the preferred destination for both Oklahoma and their biggest rivals, the Texas Longhorns.
Shortly after the meeting was concluded, we found out that neither Oklahoma nor Texas attended the get-together. What better way to send smoke signals to the conference that you are as good as gone than skipping a meeting to discuss your university.
According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, the conference discussed ramifications for both schools and contingency plans moving forward. However, if the two biggest programs in the conference leave, the Big 12 might not exist much longer to try and punish them for an early exit.
Sources familiar with the Big 12 call tonight said there weren’t a lot of fireworks. There was a lot of process and legal talk about league bylaws if Texas and OU left. They went through buyout scenarios and timelines of different years they could potentially depart.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 23, 2021
What skipping this meeting says to me is that Oklahoma was long gone and not looking back. They ripped off the rearview mirror and are looking forward to their next destination, the SEC Conference. But what if it isn’t just the SEC?
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Thamel reported on Friday morning that the ACC Conference is also looking to get involved in the pursuit of the top two schools in the Big 12 Conference. He added that it is still expected that Oklahoma and Texas will be accepted into the SEC as early as next week.
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Latest reports state the Oklahoma-Texas to the SEC Conference has been six months in the making, move almost complete.
All the college sports world can discuss at the moment is the idea of SEC expansion with the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns. Continue reading “Report: Oklahoma-Texas move almost complete, in motion for six months”
According to a report from Kirk Bohls of the Austin American Statesman, Oklahoma’s move to the SEC has been six months in the making.
The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns have dominated the sports conversation the last couple of days after initial reports the Big 12’s most important members were exploring a move to the SEC.
According to Kirk Bohls of the Austin American Statesman, the move has been six months in the making.
Prominent Big 12 source tells the American-Statesman the Texas-OU move to the SEC is almost done. "They've been working on this for a minimum of 6 months, and the A&M leadership was left out of discussions and wasn't told about it." Move could become official in a week.
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) July 23, 2021
The report from the Houston Chronicle took the world by storm on Wednesday, and as Wednesday progressed into Thursday, the migration of two of the biggest brands in college football became more of a reality.
Texas A&M voiced its displeasure with the report early on. Considering its frustration over the Longhorn Network, which led to its departure in the first place, it’s not surprising the Aggies are upset, and it’s also not surprising they were left out of discussions about conference expansion, including the Longhorns.
The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns would make the 15th and 16th members of the SEC and would change the landscape of college football as we know it.
Could Texas and Oklahoma really go to the SEC? So now what? Pete Fiutak and Nick Shepkowski discuss it all on the College Wires Podcast.
It’s all anyone in the college sports world wants to talk about – Texas and Oklahoma and the SEC. Pete Fiutak and Nick Shepkowski discuss the massive possibilities on the College Wires Podcast.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
Really? No … REALLY?! Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC?
How awesome would that be – at least for everyone but the Big 12? Could it really happen? Will it really happen?
The story is changing by the minute, and at the very least it’s going to lead to a whole lot of rumors and speculation as conferences freak out about all the possible business deals that could be done.
Pete Fiutak and FightingIrishWire.com‘s Nick Shepkowski get into it all in the College Wires Podcast.
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With Oklahoma potentially migrating to the SEC, what could the schedule look like for a the new 16-team super conference?
If the rumored move to the SEC comes to fruition for the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns, the SEC would form the first 16-team conference in the country and alter the landscape of college football as we know it.
But what could an SEC schedule look like for the Oklahoma Sooners in a 16 team conference?
There’s some talk about a “pod system” that would break the 16 teams into 4 four-team pods.
SEC Network, the league’s own TV channel, has some ideas. pic.twitter.com/MSnth9IYMM
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 22, 2021
In my opinion, this makes it way more complicated than it needs to be. Going with two divisions of eight teams makes a ton of sense and gives the SEC members 11 games against each other.
First, the SEC should keep it simple by moving Alabama and Auburn to the SEC East, allowing Oklahoma and Texas to play in the west.
That would put the Sooners in an eight-team division with:
That gives them seven games in their division.
And the East would look like this:
Again, keep it simple and have four games against the other divisions. That would give teams 11 games in the conference. Want them to have a non-conference game against, say, Oklahoma State, and that gets Oklahoma to 12 games in the regular season.
If that’s too many games, cut the non-conference game altogether and play a conference-only schedule.
So what would the schedule look like:
There are some valid concerns and questions that could become potential roadblocks for Texas/Oklahoma joining the SEC.
If you have not heard already, you may want to get someone to check the service of the rock you are living under: Texas and Oklahoma are reportedly in the process of leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC.
This is a ginormous shift of power to a conference that already had all the power in college football. The Longhorns and Sooners, who are the faces of the Big 12, could potentially leave for greener pastures … literally.
Every major decision of this nature presents valid pros and cons. Some could benefit greatly, while others would prefer to keep things the way they are. Does it make sense from a football or revenue standpoint?
Is the expansion and realignment realistic?
USA TODAY presented a few concerns that could become primary roadblocks to Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC. Are they enough to prevent the two Big 12 powerhouses from joining?
