Why Texas and Oklahoma won’t join the SEC

Texas and Oklahoma have reached out to the SEC about leaving the Big 12 and joining College Football’s best conference, the Houston Chronicle has reported.

The news came out as Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher was giving his press conference at SEC Media Days. When asked about it, he said that it wasn’t surprising they’d want to join because ‘We’ve got the greatest league in ball.’

Apparently, Texas A&M was furious with the thought of their two sworn enemies coming into the conference – particularly as one of the reasons they left in the first place was because ESPN paid Texas an awful lot of money for its own TV network.

So we look at the pros and cons of getting Texas and Oklahoma to come to the SEC, and why it won’t happen.

PROS (FOR THE SEC)

The SEC gets two blue-chip programs in Texas and Oklahoma. Regardless of their last successes (lack of it (Texas last won the National Title in 2005 and OU last won in 2000), they are massive name programs. The two teams being on board adds added credence to the ‘SEC is the best’ for everyone.

With OU and Texas on board, they’ll be able to ask ESPN and CBS for a whole lot more money in the next round of TV contract renewals.

PROS (FOR TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA)

Money, baby. The SEC’s meal ticket is a hell of a lot larger than the Big 12’s. It will also help both teams in programs other than football.

They will suddenly recruit Texas like never before. Regardless of what Aggies fans might tell you about the State of Texas, the biggest team in the State is Texas. And OU also has a massive piece of the pie in the North Texas/Dallas area. Texas/OU matched with the SEC will be a match made in heaven for recruits. And they get to play the best, too.

Oh, and then there’s the renewal of old Big 12 rivalry games against Texas A&M, too.

CONS (FOR THE SEC)

There will be a lot of moving divisions, bitching amongst current members (especially Texas A&M and Arkansas).

There will be the end of great rivalries. You can see that LSU fans would be pissed, because the potential of Alabama moving to the East might see a loss of the Alabama and Auburn games. Same goes for a bunch of West teams where the Crimson Tide is basically a guaranteed full house every non-COVID year.

CONS (FOR TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA)

Texas will be told to rid themselves of the Longhorn Network, and Oklahoma will have to get rid of their associated RSN deal too. Because when it’s with the SEC, everything comes under the ESPN/SEC Network deal. That’s a lot of money out the window and the focus will be less on them.

They also won’t have the power that they had in the Big 12. In the Big 12, it’s Oklahoma and Texas’ conference and a bunch of also-rans. If they go to the SEC, only Oklahoma will be a ‘top tier’ program. Texas will be medicore, and very possibly behind the pecking order to A&M. In other words, it’s going to need something that doesn’t really exist in Austin: Humility.

BUT IS IT LIKELY TO HAPPEN? 

In a word: No. Simply put, Oklahoma and Texas wouldn’t get the votes.

Texas A&M will definitely vote for UT and Oklahoma NOT to come to ‘their’ conference.

Arkansas – who escaped from under the UT/OU banner by going to the SEC. The Razorbacks have had 78 meetings with Texas, but again, wouldn’t want Texas and OU swallowing up an identity that they’ve been trying to build up in the Loan Star State. Also, Arkansas simply doesn’t like UT.

And of the others, that leaves 1 out of a possible 12 to not want them in the conference. Vanderbilt could vote against UT and OU because of baseball reasons. Any SEC West school could be pressured by the possibility of an end to their great rivalry games. Oh, and the prospect of potentially having to split up more of the TV pie, too.