Report: Oklahoma and Texas reach out to SEC about expansion
The endless discussion regarding super conferences received a helping of gasoline onto the fire.
According to a report from the Houston Chronicle (link requires subscription), both the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns have reached out to the SEC about forming college football’s first 16-team super conference. Not too long ago Sooners fans believed that the first super conference would come as part of the new Pac-16 Conference. The Longhorns pulled the plug on that idea due to wanting their very own network.
According to the report from Brent Zwerneman, the announcement could come very soon for the top two schools that draw in the most eyes and cash for the Big 12 Conference.
An announcement could come within a couple of weeks concerning the potential addistion of UT and OU to the league, the person said, which would give the SEC 16 schools and make it the first of a national super-conference.
This comes as a bit of a shock with the Big 12 Conference trying to nail down negotiations for their TV deal that expires in 2025. Zwerneman states that SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey declined to comment on the possible expansion.
Oklahoma is very familiar with members of the conference with Texas A&M and Missouri both leaving the Big 12 for the SEC prior to the 2012 season. If the SEC was looking to expand its reach, it would make sense to grab the state of Texas and Oklahoma’s top teams.
It remains to be seen just how serious this report is but it would really shake things up in the college landscape. The Big 12 Conference would likely dissolve leaving eight other programs to be up for grabs. Getting both would keep the Red River Rivalry intact as well as reigniting old rivalries including Texas-Texas A&M.
Sooners Wire will monitor the situation and provide updates as they are made available.
