When does Texas join the SEC? Longhorns softball among last sports competing out of Big 12

Texas' reign in the Big 12 is nearly over.

In just a few weeks, the Longhorns will be official members of the SEC, as college athletics shifts into a much different look for the 2024-25 sports calendar.

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Joining Texas in the SEC is Oklahoma, while current Pac-12 programs UCLA, Oregon, Washington and USC are headed to the Big Ten. There's also a shift in the Big 12 — which is replacing the Longhorns and Sooners with Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado, who are defecting form the Pac-12. Then there are Stanford and Cal, who are going out east after leaving the Pac-12. Altogether, conference realignment has resulted in the disbandment of the Pac-12.

Texas will look to go out with a bang in one of its final sports as members of the Big 12: The Longhorns are ranked No. 1 in college softball and hope to make a run at the Women's College World Series. That starts first with a three-game series against eventual conference foe Texas A&M — which left the Big 12 in 2012 for the SEC — in the Austin Super Regional.

When does Texas officially join the SEC? Here's the official date for the Longhorns:

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When does Texas join the SEC?

Texas officially joins the SEC on July 1, 2024 — the same day as Oklahoma.

Softball and baseball are among the last two sports in which Texas will compete in the Big 12 before the SEC move is made official.

The original agreement for Texas and Oklahoma was to join the SEC on July 1, 2025. However, the two schools reached an early exit agreement with the Big 12 in 2023 to move that date up a year to July 1, 2024. The Longhorns and Sooners forfeited a combined $100 million in revenue distribution by leaving early.

The two powerhouse programs unofficially kicked off a wave of conference realignment happenings in July 2021, when both schools accepted invites to the SEC.

Next season marks the SEC's first of a new TV contract with ESPN, with the network becoming the sole broadcaster of all SEC football games, meaning CBS will no longer feature the conference's primetime matchups of the week.

How many teams are in the new SEC?

Sixteen teams will be in the SEC once Oklahoma and Texas become official members on July 1, 2024. Here's the full list of SEC teams after conference realignment, in order of date they joined:

• Alabama (1932)

• Auburn (1932)

• Florida (1932)

• Georgia (1932)

• Kentucky (1932)

• LSU (1932)

• Mississippi State (1932)

• Ole Miss (1932)

• Tennessee (1932)

• Vanderbilt (1932)

• Arkansas (1991)

• South Carolina (1991)

• Missouri (2012)

• Texas A&M (2012)

• Oklahoma (2024)

• Texas (2024)

Texas football SEC opponents 2024

All eyes will be on Texas football for its first season in the SEC in 2024. Here are the Longhorns' SEC opponents for their first season in the new conference:

• vs. Mississippi State (Sept. 28)

• vs. Oklahoma (Oct. 12) (Dallas)

• vs. Georgia (Oct. 19)

• at Vanderbilt (Oct. 26)

• vs. Florida (Nov. 9)

• at Arkansas (Nov. 16)

• vs. Kentucky (Nov. 23)

• at Texas A&M (Nov. 30)

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: When does Texas join the SEC? Longhorns nearing end of big 12 membership