Greg Sankey addresses possibility of Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC early

Despite speculation that Oklahoma and Texas could join the SEC before the expected date of 2025, as of now there are no plans for an early exit from the Big 12. However, that doesn’t mean things can’t change.

At least that’s what SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in an appearance on ESPN’s Championship Drive on Monday ahead of the national championship. Sankey pointed to the fact that the Sooners and Longhorns are still under the grant of media rights for the Big 12 until 2025, saying it’s up to those three parties to work things out for an early exit to even be a possibility.

“The short answer is no,” Sankey said. “That’s a reality between the Big 12 conference and its members. Texas and Oklahoma are still members. That’s why with their media grant of rights, they’re on track and we set the date for their entry to day after those contracts expire.”

But while Sankey was firm that the plan now is for Oklahoma and Texas to join the SEC in 2025, he also didn’t rule out an earlier entry. In fact, a report last month from The Athletic indicated that the Big 12 has already been in discussion for the two schools to leave by at least 2024.

Sankey confirmed that there has been “openness to change,” and pointed to the SEC’s ability to move quickly as it did when it added Texas A&M and Missouri in 2012. Still, he reiterated that it all comes down to what the Big 12 wants to do.

“There’s been presentations of openness to change,” Sankey said. “We’ll be prepared because we have the need to settle our football scheduling model. We’ve done the work on most of our other scheduling models, but football still remains. We’ve adapted quickly in the past when we added Texas A&M and Missouri. We had about eight or nine months for that decision making. We want to use time wisely, but in the next few months we’ll come to a conclusion on the scheduling model. The Big 12’s decision making really is the point of question there on timing.”

Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC in 2024 would line up with several other big changes across college football. That includes the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams and the additions of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has previously said he is “open” to the Sooners and Longhorns leaving the conference before the media rights expires. If that were to happen, though, it would likely result in significant compensation from the two schools to the Big 12.