College sports conferences are typically multiple schools that group together because of common interests. The Big East Conference began in 1979 due to this.
Currently, there are multiple conferences. However, there are five big hitters; also dubbed the “Power Five.” They are a part of the Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA Division I, and consist of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten Conference, the Pac-12 Conference, the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference.
The University of Oklahoma and University of Texas at Austin both joined the Big 12 Conference in 1996. It seems that both colleges have been satisfied with their alignment with the conference for the past 25 years.
Times may be changing for both schools. On July 26, 2021, OU and UT both announced their intent to withdraw from the Big 12 Conference, and to become the newest members of the SEC.
"The University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin notified the Big 12 Athletic Conference today that they will not be renewing their grants of media rights following expiration in 2025," representatives from both schools said in a joint statement.
Even though the schools are leaving, they plan on honoring their current agreements with Big-12.
"Providing notice to the Big 12 at this point is important in advance of the expiration of the conference's current media rights agreement,” the statement continued. “The universities intend to honor their existing grants of rights agreements. However, both universities will continue to monitor the rapidly evolving collegiate athletics landscape as they consider how to best position their athletics programs to the future."
The impending exit of the schools may have a drastic impact on the Big-12. OU and UT are major power players in the conference. They have a combined 82 conference championships and 11 claimed national championships.
Their financial prowess leaving the conference might by an issue, as well. Texas brought in almost $224 million in operating revenue during the 2018-2019 fiscal year, and OU raked in $163 million. University of Texas made the most out of any school in the NCAA and OU came in eighth.
With the two schools joining the SEC, that will set the conference apart for being the largest conference in the FBS. The departure will drop the Big-12 from ten to eight members, not counting the affiliate members, and will catapult the SEC into the lead with 16 teams.
Football fans might be wondering what is coming on the horizon with all these changes.