Longhorns Warned by Ex SEC Coach Ahead of Conference Move: 'Get Ready!'

The Texas Longhorns' move to the SEC will bring forth better competition, and they'll need to be ready for it.

After the 2023 season, play time is over in Austin.

The Big 12, respectfully, is not on the same plane of depth as the Southeastern Conference, and the Texas Longhorns will have to avoid getting a gut punch in year one. Former Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason had words of wisdom for Texas to prevent it from getting trapped in quicksand after its SEC move in 2024.

"Get ready. It's a monster of a league," Mason said at SEC Media Days on "SEC Now" Wednesday. "I go back to before I came into the conference, I just remember the realignment and what it looked like when Texas A&M and Missouri came into this conference. And, you know, there was a lot of fanfare about Texas A&M and what it looked like. Missouri, nobody really said much, but you saw Missouri in those first two years really come in and make a splash in this conference."

In the Big 12 last season, 50 percent of the conference had a winning record and 40 percent did so in league play. Whereas in the SEC last year, nearly 65 percent had at least seven wins, but just four teams — Georgia, Tennessee, LSU and Alabama — were above .500 in league play.

Head to head in 2022, the SEC was 4-2 over the Big 12 with Kansas State and Texas Tech scoring the conference's lone wins against Missouri and Ole Miss, respectively.

Mason coached against Texas and Oklahoma at Oklahoma State's defensive coordinator and called both "storied programs."

"Watching these teams play a year ago, coaching against these teams, really good football teams," Mason said. "They better be ready because when you come to this conference, hard hat, lunch pail and hopefully you stay healthy."

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You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter @casey_smith2419

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