Oklahoma a "reluctant bride" in SEC expansion? Greg Sankey fires back

While some try to explain away why Oklahoma wanted to join the SEC, commissioner Greg Sankey went on the offensive

This season, as Oklahoma and Texas both prepare for their departure to the SEC in one of college football's bombshell conference expansion moves, naturally a lot of the talk around the Big 12 has been about why those schools are leaving, including some notable comments made by deputy commissioner Tim Weiser.

Weiser said that he felt Texas departed for the SEC in part because it would rather "get beat by Alabama than Kansas State, or Florida than Iowa State." 

Related: Must-watch games when Texas, OU join SEC

Those comments naturally drew some reactions around both leagues, but it was another remark that followed which caught SEC commissioner Greg Sankey's attention, and it was about Oklahoma.

"In Oklahoma's case, I'm not as convinced that was the issue for them," Weiser said to KC Sports Network. 

"I think they were more of what I would call the reluctant bride, that kind of felt like if we don't go, what happens to the Texas vs. OU football game, basketball game, and all the things that we know from an OU-Texas standpoint are really important."

Sankey didn't care for that assessment.

"Let me be clear: that's fiction. Period. That's fiction," he said.

"The outreach was from both, equitably. It was done at the presidential level, directly and clearly. Joe Harroz and Jay Hartzell were both equally clear about their interest in joining the Southeastern Conference."

"They, as I recall, said, 'We've watched how you've led,' which is a compliment to me, how our group has made decisions and how we function, and they want to be a part of that," Sankey said. "That's as clear as I can be."

Related: Where the SEC stands on future expansion

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