'Where We Belong!' Texas Officially Joins SEC Alongside Oklahoma

July 1 marks the start of the 2024-25 athletic calendar and the start of the journeys in the Southeastern Conference for the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners.

Fireworks erupt from in front of the UT Tower during the SEC Celebration at the University of Texas at Austin on Sunday, June 30, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /

No one puts on a party like Texans, and on the eve of the Texas Longhorns joining the SEC for the foreseeable future, President Jay Hartzell and the rest of the Longhorn nation put on a show.

After hours worth of entertainment and festivities on the main mall of the UT Austin campus, star rapper and singer Pitbull finished up the celebration of the Longhorn's entrance into the SEC.

When the clock struck 12, the Longhorns were a part of the coveted Southeastern Conference.

“We believe the SEC is where we belong," Texas Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife said. "We respect the schools in the SEC, and we’re excited to compete against them.”

Texas Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte makes his way into the stadium of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Waco, Texas. / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

July 1 marked the official turning of the NCAA athletic calendar, as well as the start of realignment. Now that schools are officially in the 2024-25 athletic year, the Longhorns and rivals Oklahoma Sooners are officially a part of the SEC. 

When it was first announced in 2021 that the two schools would be joining the SEC, expectations were for the schools to begin on this date, but in 2025. An early exit agreement, however, that was reached in 2023 allowed for both schools to swiftly exit the Big 12 earlier than first thought. Now, both teams will bring success from the Big 12 to the tougher, and more notable, SEC conference. 

The SEC is now host to 16 schools and features some of the most notable teams in college athletics. Georgia has hoisted two of the last three football championships, five different baseball programs have hoisted the last five College World Series championships and South Carolina women’s basketball will look for its third championship in four years entering the 2024-25 season.

Texas and Oklahoma know their worth as well, however. Texas took home the 2023-24 Learfield Directors Cup, awarded to the top athletic program in the nation. Texas will bring national champions from five different sports, and host more of strong programs in major sports like football and baseball. 

“We will revive old rivalries and start new ones," Texas President Jay Hartzell said. "And we’re not just coming to compete. We are coming to win.”

Oklahoma owns one of the greatest programs in all of college sports history with Patty Gasso’s softball team. The seniors who just graduated won four titles in as many years, a feat that may never be topped in college athletics again. Oklahoma also brings a rich history in football, as well as gymnastics and golf, two extremely competitive sports in the SEC.

Both schools have received mixed reviews and welcomes from fans and personalities alike, but one thing is for certain. The Longhorns and Sooners are here to stay in the SEC, and now that June has passed there’s no going back for the two teams who dominated the Big 12 over the years.