Oklahoma football: Fires of early exit to SEC being stoked again
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma football will continue to reside in the Big 12 in 2023 — which will expand to 14 teams next season — but what about after that?
OU and Texas continue to hold firm, at least publicly, with the position that they fully intend to fulfill their contract obligation to remain in the Big 12 through the terms of the current Grant of Rights media agreement, which is set to expire on July 1, 2025.
However, conditions have changed since the Sooners and Longhorns officially announced a year and a half ago that they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC. For one thing, at the time of that announcement the Big 12 did not have four new schools locked in, let alone formally identified, as new members to join the conference.
Additionally, there have been reports that the Big 12 has been in discussions with representatives of ESPN and FOX on a new media contract.
Brett McMurphy of Action Network continues to fan the flame that Oklahoma and Texas will exit the Big 12 earlier that both schools are publicly proclaiming. Earlier this week, he reported, “There is ‘growing sentiment’ and’ momentum’ for Oklahoma and Texas to leave the Big 12 early and join the SEC in 2024, according to industry sources.”
McMurphy acknowledged a number of obstacles remain to be overcome, but according to sources, the ‘climate is right’ for OU and Texas to exit the Big 12 after the 2023 season.
“There’s a lot of moving parts, but there is the desire on many fronts for this to get done,” the source told McMurphy.
Houston, Cincinnati, UCF and BYU are joining the Big 12 and will be part of the conference’s 2023 football schedule. Big 12 officials have indicated that it will not go back to a divisional structure and instead will operate as it does currently, with a nine-game league schedule, except with the addition of the four new teams.
Big 12 bylaws require Oklahoma and Texas (or any school that decides to leave the conference early) to pay an exit fee equal to the league per-team distribution for two years. That amount is estimated to be around $84 each for the Sooners and Longhorns. There is a historical precedent, however, to negotiate a lower amount, and those discussions are reported to have been happening.
Another factor that may have accelerated this timeline is the addition of USC and UCLA as new members of the Big Ten beginning in the 2024 season.
Although it has not been reported publicly, privately neither Oklahoma nor Texas is happy about the Big 12 adding new members while the Sooners and Longhorns are still in the conference.
As it is in most business negotiations, how all of this will finally get worked out comes down to money and ensuring that all parties feel that they have been fairly compensated.
If you ask me, I believe we will see both Oklahoma and Texas competing in a 16-team SEC in the fall of 2024, consistent with the 16-team expansion of the Big Ten.