https://www.houstonchronicle.com/

The first 16 team super conference if approved. Looks like it has legs

I couldn't read your link without subscription, so I added this.

https://www.smokingmusket.com/2021/7/22/22588351/texas-longhorns-oklahoma-sooners-sec-end-of-big-12

Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC?
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By WVUNite@NiteStare Jul 22, 2021, 6:34am EDT

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NCAA FOOTBALL: OCT 08 Oklahoma v Texas
Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Yesterday, report Brent Zwerneman dropped a bombshell story in the Houston Chronicle that has the college football world in a frenzy - the two blue bloods of the Big 12, Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners have reached out to the SEC about joining the conference and leaving the Big 12 behind.


At first this could be described as nothing more than your usual summer realignment story that is needed to drum up headlines and clicks but when SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey basically refused to even talk about it, everyone’s spidey senses quickly perked up as that was an usual omission.


The fact that Sankey specifically only mentioned the 2021 season caught everyone’s eyes and the rumor mill began to churn. Now, you could then immediately say that perhaps it was bad reporting or even just quick fingers that got us into this but now Oklahoma Sooners released a statement that also was a cryptic denial and didn’t refute the story.


Quick recap - exclusive story in a Houston paper leads to the SEC commissioner issuing a non-denial about this upcoming football season and then one of the two schools in questions releases a non-denial in response. Where there is smoke, there’s fire and this was a raging inferno.

Now that the fire was burning, the news has begun to quickly come in. Reports surfaced that Texas may inform the Big 12 of their intent to leave as early as next week, as reported by a Rivals article.



Texas and Oklahoma are ready to make that move.

A high-level university official informed Orangebloods the expectation is that Texas and Oklahoma would inform the Big 12 as early as next week that both schools intend to decline on extending the existing set of media rights. The contract expires in 2025.

A kicker is that this appears to be breaking up with your old girlfriend before making sure the new girl really wants you, as reports are surfacing that both will inform the Big 12 of their intent and then ask the SEC if they can join. You have to assume its just a formality but still -


In a nutshell that is all we know at this point, but from everywhere we can see, this has real legs and is definitely the next round of realignment. The reasons appear to be simple, the newest version of the college football playoffs is likely to be 12 teams and will feature 6 at-large teams. Those at large teams are going to feature at least 3, possibly 4 SEC teams so right now the teams that want a championship are vying to get into the SEC for those championships.

That leaves West Virginia and the rest of the Big 12 in scramble mode. With the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, the SEC would now be at 16 teams and 16 seems to be the magical number for conferences. The ACC, which is has 14 plus Notre Dame, would likely consume Notre Dame and then add one more piece to get them to 16. The Big Ten which also has 14, will likely add two. The Pac-12 would likely add 4.

If the rumors are true about Texas and Oklahoma, which by all account they appear to be, West Virginia Mountaineers needs to do everything possible to get into the ACC. Forget the past, forget what has been said, West Virginia needs to get into the ACC.

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Interesting stuff.

I could see WVU coming to the Big 10 from a regional perspective. If the Big 10 wanted to get into Texas, TCU might be an interesting add too.

Wow. Who's next.....FSU, Miami and Clemson?

Everybody wants to be in the SEC because the SEC is the best conference.

They should just accelerate the whole thing and roll everyone into one big, happy conference and be done with the charades.

Nobody wants to join the Big 10 because teams that have joined the Big 10, since 1985,
Suddenly started getting their tails whooped on the regular. (By the conference)

And Nebraska sunk into Oblivian.

and, Texas- the search for relevance.

Yeah, Baker lost his flag in the horseshoe....

If it wasn't Broken, don't fix it. (But Big Money always gets in the way.)

My Idea was, allow the Selection Committee, to decide whether there would be which of 3 options at the end of each season,
A 2 team one game playoff.
A 4 team 3 games playoff. or
A 6 teams, however many games playoff.

(But Big money would never let that happen without getting involved and messing things up.)

Penn State and Nebraska didn't do as well in their new home the Big 10
as Texas Tech did in it's new home the SEC,
but stay off the topic you quoted.

Not to stray too far off but
Sure could go for a US football open, or a North American Football open as to how that would work, it would be fun to watch.
XFL, College Football, Division 2, CFL, Mexico, Curacao, and the Dominican Republic would probably come up with a team, USFL, Arena, NFL, a real open championship.

Much like when USC and UCLA joined the Big Ten.

oops:

Ouch for the big 12, we might as well disband the “heartland of America conference”.

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense for the Big 10 or TCU.

Part of conference is having some geographical connection. That marriage doesn't fit that. At least when the Big 10 expanded with Rutgers and Maryland, those schools states border on Pennsylvania. That would be a lot of travel for TCU.

If the Big 10 looks to get to 16 teams which does balance divisions, they probably need to look eastward. As it stands, way more schools are in the western part of the conference. In my eye, some logical targets would be Pitt, Cincy, Syracuse, WV, or Louisville. That might even be the order that makes the most sense.

When the SEC last expanded, I thought Texas was a lock then, but Texas balked and TAM jumped right in. Texas and Oklahoma would fit right in at this point with TAM firmly entrenched in the SEC.

If it happens, it will make for some interesting new division alignments that will no doubt produce some squabbles as to who is in the eastern division and who is in the western.

With the new playoff formula. I would think that the balance of power, winning the conference, etc will play less of a role in all conferences.

Kansas has a long way to go to be competitive in football, but it would be a favorite BB team in ANY conference immediately.

Big 10 would be a basketball powerhouse if they added Kansas

Just have the MW and the remaining 8 mash together and make the Big Mountain conference...

I'd watch that

Neither Oklahoma nor Texas are in the southeast either. I mean if we're talking about lining geography up with a conference.

Cowherd suggested the Big 10 go and grab Clemson and ND....

Wouldn't that be a thing....

They neighbor with existing states in the conference.

The Big 10 is neither Big nor 10.

In 2021 what does geographics have to do with it.
It's not a regionally divded landscape for the most part.

If the SEC wanted a west or east division, with all the west teams in the east and all the east teams in the west, it's just a division name anyway.

Come on in. The waters warm.

I think it makes college football.

It’ll be interesting how it shakes out. Will A&M stay put or will they fight it?

Will WVU go to the ACC? What about the other BIg 12 schools?

Texas A&M? Where would they go? I could see where they might want to be the only SEC team in Texas, and they are only about 100 miles apart, but the teams in both Tennessee and Mississippi are similar distances apart. Auburn and Alabama maybe 160 miles or so.

TexAG won't do a thing. They've been put in their place.

Sorry...my comment was intended for dawgs4life

Part of it is expanding into new television markets. TYhis said, I agree with you

So was mine.

OU and Texas have given their formal statement this morning to not extend their Grant of Rights beyond 2025. The rest of the Big 12 members are leaving the sinking ship ASAP. I fully expect OU and Texas to start their 2022 season in the SEC.

I guess what Ken doesn't take in to account is scheduling. It would be hard to work the schedule either way in less than 3-4 years. Contracts are signed for all the non conference games that far ahead. They have to play those out without fairly large forfeiture fees.

I don’t have my pulse on the SEC like you guys have. Is there a way for A&M to go back to the BIG12 if it remains? It seems to me like they’re the 1 school with the most to lose?

Aaaand ESPN gets slapped with a cease and desist:

[img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7al3ltXMAIihEK?format=jpg&name=medium[/img]

Wow. If ESPN played any role in getting those teams to jump to the SEC, they violated the contract they had with the Big 12. Those are some serious damages.

I think it would be murky at best to prove. I'd say as soon as the ruling came down that players could get paid, the whole mojo changed and Texas and Oklahoma decided to bolt the Big 12 and the SEC is very happy to go to 16 teams and both will be solid additions with both the league and teams enjoying benefits.

This decision by both of Texas and Oklahoma to seek admission to the SEC didn't just come about in the last month or two. I am sure those school's AD's and school Presidents have been talking with each other behind closed doors for maybe a couple of years now.