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It's Official: Oklahoma, Texas Apply for Membership in the SEC

The university announced Tuesday that the regents will meet on Friday morning to discuss "athletics conference membership"

John E. Hoover

It's Official: Oklahoma, Texas Apply for Membership in the SEC
It's Official: Oklahoma, Texas Apply for Membership in the SEC /

It's official: Oklahoma intends to join the SEC.

OU and Texas released a joint statement on Tuesday morning announcing they had formally applied for membership into the Southeastern Conference beginning in 2025.

"The University of Oklahoma and The University of Texas at Austin (the “Universities”) request invitations for membership to the Southeastern Conference (the “SEC”) starting on July 1, 2025," the letter states. "We believe that there would be mutual benefit to the Universities on the one hand, and the SEC on the other hand, for the Universities to become members of the SEC.

"We look forward to the prospect of discussions regarding this matter."

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SEC commissioner Greg Sankey issued a statement via Twitter on Tuesday announcing that "two esteemed academic institutions with storied athletic programs" had submitted formal requests for invitation into the SEC in 2025, and clarified that the SEC "has not proactively sought new members."

Sankey said "we will pursue significant change when there is a clear consensus among our members that such actions will further enrich the experiences of our student-athletes" and that the SEC would "consider these requests in the near future."

The OU Board of regents called a special meeting for Friday morning "to consider athletics conference membership," according to an email press release from the school on Tuesday.

At the special meeting in Oklahoma City, OU will announce the next step in its migration from the Big 12 Conference to the SEC, a seismic shift that has been in the works for months and became public last week.

The OU regents will meet in executive session at 9 a.m. Friday at OU's Health Sciences Center, then will resume a public meeting at around 11 a.m. OU president Joe Harroz and OU athletic director Joe Castiglione will attend as well.

As expected, OU and Texas told the Big 12 on Monday that they would not renew their media rights agreement with the league. That agreement ends in June 2025, and the Sooners and Longhorns have said they intend to fulfill the terms.

However, the move is expected to be formalized sooner than that.

SI's Ross Dellenger reported Monday night that the SEC presidents and chancellors have scheduled a meeting for Thursday to discuss expansion in the form of OU and Texas.

A source tells SI Sooners that the SEC's CEO's are expected to take a preliminary vote on adding the Sooners and Longhorns during the Thursday meeting. A three-quarter vote, or 11 of 14 schools, is needed to approve adding members.

ESPN's Heather Dinich reported that a formal vote would likely happen later because of the complexity of sorting out the SEC's existing and potential future television arrangements. 

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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