Big 12 Executives Meet With Texas, Oklahoma, To Discuss Impending Exit To SEC

The Big 12 Executive Committee called a meeting with Texas and Oklahoma to discuss the schools impending exits from the conference

Matt Galatzan | Jul 25, 2021

Following an explosive week in college sports, Texas and Oklahoma seem poised to join the SEC after multiple reports surfaced connecting them to the conference.

Since then, the entirety of the Big 12 conference's contingent and their individual futures have been called into question, as they hope to find a suitable landing spot after the dust settles.

The Big 12 conference itself, on the other hand, seems to be destined to destruction, as without its two most powerful and profitable members, it seems to be only a matter of time until the league disintegrates.

Hoping to stave off that fate, the Big 12 Executive Committee held a meeting on Sunday afternoon with University of Oklahoma President Joe Harroz, and University of Texas President Jay Hartzell, to discuss the future of the Big 12, and the impending exit of the two schools.

The committee, which, consists of Big 12 Board of Directors chairman and Texas Tech University President Lawrence Schovanec, Baylor University President Linda Livingstone, and Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, released a statement on the meeting, detailing the discussions.

LISTEN: Texas and OU SEC Bound: What Happens to the Rest Of the Power 5?

“The meeting was cordial, and the Executive Committee expressed a willingness to discuss proposals that would strengthen the Conference and be mutually beneficial to OU and UT, as well as the other member institutions of the Conference,” Bowlsby stated. “I expect that we will continue our conversations in the days ahead and we look forward to discussing thoughts, ideas and concepts that may be of shared interest and impact.”

Both Texas and Oklahoma could be joining the SEC as soon as the 2022 season. The two schools are expected to send a letter out to the Big 12 stating they will not re-sign their contract when their current deal is up in 2025.

On the other end of the spectrum, Texas A&M's board of regents will meet at 5 p.m. Monday via teleconference to discuss “SEC issues."

If and when the league elects to vote on bringing in two more schools, the conference will expand to 16 teams — the largest in college football.

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Published Jul 25, 2021

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.