Oklahoma unveils SEC logo at Owen Field ahead of Big 12 departure
July 1 marks the start of a new era for Oklahoma. That’s when the Sooners will leave the Big 12 for the SEC – and the preparations are continuing.
OU posted a video of the SEC logo going on Owen Field with the conference switch quickly approaching. The Sooners, along with Texas, will make the leap after agreeing to leave the Big 12 starting with the 2024-25 season.
It’s a new look for Oklahoma, and the SEC is planning celebrations to welcome its new members. A new era of college athletics is almost here after a groundbreaking round of conference realignment.
Oklahoma and Texas have been preparing for the move to the SEC since 2021 when news broke of their plans ahead of media days. It was originally supposed to take place in 2025, but the two schools reached an agreement with the Big 12 to leave a year early. That meant the transition would not only take place in time for the SEC’s new media deal to kick in, but also sync with other conference moves.
The Sooners have some new faces in town ahead of the move, most notably at quarterback. Dillon Gabriel is out after transferring to Oregon, opening the door for Jackson Arnold to presumably take over as starting quarterback. He’ll have a new coordinator, as well, with Seth Littrell taking the reins to bring his Air Raid-style offense to Norman.
Brent Venables: 4th quarter will be key to SEC success
As Oklahoma geared up to join its new conference, Brent Venables hit the books. He started studying the “unforgiving” SEC and what it will take to find success in the league, and he found late-game execution will be crucial after the Sooners make the leap.
“A lot of games are decided in the fourth quarter, and that’s between the teams that are at the very top of the win-loss column and the teams that are not at the very top. That’s what I’ve seen from studying the last six months,” Venables said at the SEC spring meetings. “And so whoever those teams are that maybe didn’t have a shiny record at the end of the year, it’s a dogfight week in and week out between them and everybody in the league. That’s what you see.”
“And so the challenge of being efficient and being on the right side of those tight games, that’s exciting to me. That’s a real challenge. I know our players are excited about that, they recognize that Oklahoma doesn’t sneak up on anybody. So we’re not going to surprise anybody.”