SEC Day: How Oklahoma's Move to the SEC 'Became Real' Over the Last Three Years

The Sooners officially joined the SEC on Monday and welcomed the Southeastern Conference's commissioner to Norman for the celebration.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, center, talks with OU President Joseph Harroz Jr., left, and OU athletic director Joe Castiglione / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

NORMAN — On Monday, the Oklahoma Sooners officially became a member of the Southeastern Conference.

To celebrate the event, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, SEC Network media personality Paul Finebaum and others visited Norman and helped welcome the Sooners into their new league.

The day has been long awaited by OU fans after the move was initially announced three years ago in July 2021.

While Oklahoma and Texas' move to the SEC became public knowledge in the summer of 2021, Sankey said in Monday's press conference that both schools approached him about entry into the confence in the spring of 2021.

Sankey added that the two schools chose to move forward with their efforts to join the conference despite not being guaranteed a spot. Sankey brought the decision to SEC presidents for a vote, which passed unanimously in June of the same year.

"Understand that between October 2015 and spring 2021 when this conversation became real, had any number points of outreach from different institutions," Sankey said. "Yet we’ve added Oklahoma and Texas. That was a focus of spring 2021 and became real. We were coming out of COVID. We couldn’t meet in person. I thought that was important. We had a lot change in our presidential roles. I think it was June 2, 2021, we had a meeting In Birmingham and shared that we had outreach and believed it was serious and united between the University of Oklahoma and University of Texas. I very candidly said to our presidents we can stop, if that’s your wish. We can go forward and talk in three years about the movement around us. The conversations, obviously, continued through June. It wasn’t daily or even weekly, but they were very, very focused."

" ... There were so many moving parts — the Supreme Court decision, the College Football Playoff expansion. Two commissioners had just come into jobs recently in other conferences and we actually talked about slowing down the process. I then was going to have a call with our presidents that next Thursday to report this is real and (OU and Texas are) poised to consider their future in the Big 12. The message from me (to OU and Texas) is we can't do anything until you decide your future in the Big 12, which attached itself to the Grant of Rights that expire June 30, 2025 and when they informed the Big 12 of their direction, the next day they applied, and from that Tuesday until the next Thursday, eight or nine days, an incredibly intense time as you can imagine, resulting in a unanimous vote, which I give all 14 members credit for achieving, the extension of an invitation ... to the two institutions that were accepted on that Friday. But part of that clarity and, I think, the discomfort for the presidents was, I said 'I can't promise you the vote will result in an invitation.' "

After the vote, news broke quickly of the outcome, and the Sooners spent the next three seasons playing in the Big 12 with the remainder of the conference aware that two of its flagship schools were on the way out.

Despite potential animosity between the Big 12 and the university, Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione ensured that OU handled its exit gracefully, staying true to all of its promises before leaving the conference.

While Castiglione paid his respects to the Big 12, he also noted the the Sooners are a perfect fit for the SEC, saying the university's values align with other SEC members.

“We think about what the move to the SEC means, and how the strength of the university, our brand, if you will, can marry with the SEC and their strength in brand,” Castiglione said. “You step back and you reflect, you know, there are so many like-minded institutions that are coming together. What we bring, to help the SEC be strong, what their strength brings to help us be stronger in the long run, this is a natural fit.” 

Sankey seemed to agree with Castiglione's sentiments, saying that OU's passionate fan base would help make the school's transition into the conference much easier.

The commissioner also said he believes the Sooners will help make the conference even better, adding to what was already a competitive field of athletic programs. Additionally, the SEC's expansion to Oklahoma puts the conference in 12 different states.

"They have a clear expectation of excellence that I think complements our current members — the national championship achievements and the notion that a rising tide lifts all ships," Sankey said. "The fan base was an important part, and in our athletics directors' conversation, one of our (athletic directors) observed that as we think about expansion, we should apply the ‘It Just Means More’ filter; I don’t mean to be trite, but there’s no objective data. It’s the subjective analysis of, ‘Does the integration of that athletics program, that university, that fan base fit seamlessly with our current 14 members?’ I think clearly it does."

July 1, 2024 marked a historic day for Oklahoma's athletic programs that will impact the school's various athletic teams for years to come. After a 30-year stint in the Big 12 spanning from 1994-2024, OU is officially a member of the SEC.

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