The Southeastern Conference voted to accept the application of Oklahoma and Texas to switch from the Big 12 to the SEC last week, sparking a rash of unanswered questions.

Due to TV contracts, OU and Texas are supposedly committed to stay in the Big 12 for the next four years. But it is doubtful it will take that long for the Sooners and Longhorns to move to the SEC.

The question for the remaining members of the Big 12 – including Oklahoma State – is whether that conference will survive without its two marquee members.

A first step by Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby was to send a cease-and-desist letter to ESPN, accusing that network of encouraging other conferences to quickly recruit the remaining Big 12 members to facilitate a quick exit for OU and Texas.

“I have absolute certainty that they (ESPN) have been involved in manipulating other conferences to go after our members,” Bowlsby told The Associated Press.

The letter went to ESPN executive Burke Magnus and accused ESPN of working to harm the Big 12 and to increase revenues for the network. It alleges that ESPN has actively engaged in conversations with another conference to lure away a remaining Big 12 member.

It didn’t name the conference but it rumored to be the American Athletic Conference. In 2019, the AAC signed a $1 billion, 12-year contract with ESPN. Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger reported that it was the AAC.

ESPN, which owns the SEC Network, in 2020 signed a deal for the broadcast rights for the football games at a cost of $3 billion. ESPN and Fox Sports have a contract with the Big 12 for football TV rights that extends through 2025.

ESPN in a statement said the claims have no merit.

Last week, OU and Texas informed the Big 12 that they would not renew the grant of media rights agreement that has the same time frame as the TV contract with ESPN and Fox.

“The Big 12 Conference has learned that the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas have submitted formal requests to the SEC to be considered for membership beginning with the 2025-26 athletic year,” Bowlsby said in a statement. “The events of recent days have verified that the two schools have been contemplating and planning for the transition for months and this formal application is the culmination of those processes. We are unwavering in the belief that the Big 12 provides an outstanding platform for its members’ athletic and academic success.  We will face the challenges head-on, and we have confidence that the Big 12 will continue to be a vibrant and successful entity in the near term and into the foreseeable future.”

OU and Texas have secretly been working on this move for months.

It took 11 yes votes from the 14 SEC member schools to extend the invitation to OU and Texas. Texas A&M initially opposed the move buy last week the A&M Board of Regents told Texas A&M president Katherine Banks to vote yes.

Reactions to the change have been mixed.

Former OU head coach Bob Stoops is promoting the move to the SEC. In an opinion piece in the Oklahoman, Stoops wrote: “Let’s set the record straight: OU’s move to the SEC is what’s best for Oklahoma. The reality is that conferences are now more important than ever and, with limited spots, the strongest conferences would not accept OU if we were to require OSU to join as well. By joining the SEC, we ensure the state’s flagship university will be represented nationally while protecting our rich football history for many years to come.

“To move forward in any other manner would be to the detriment of OU and the state of Oklahoma.”

Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked about the possibility of adding OU and Texas and he said he didn’t know too much about the details. He expressed confidence in SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and the universities’ presidents.

“I don’t really know enough about it,” Saban said. “I know the conference commissioner and the people that are above me administratively and organizationally, college presidents or whatever, need to make decisions like this as to how it benefits our conference and how it affects college football as a whole.”

At Alabama, Saban has a 1-0 record against Texas with a win coming in the 2010 BCS national championship game. Alabama is 1-1 versus Oklahoma under Saban with a loss in the 2014 Sugar Bowl and a 45-34 win over the Sooners in the 2018 College Football Playoff semi-final game at the Orange Bowl. OU is the only Big 12 team to make the CFP. OU is 0-4, including the semi-final matchup with Alabama.

In football, OU has an impressive win/loss record against SEC teams. OU is 110-46-8 (69%) against current SEC members. That figure is somewhat inflated because OU played Missouri every year when they both were in the Big Eight and later the Big 12 conferences.

OU has played 12 of the 14 SEC teams and hold a series edge against eight of them. OU trails Georgia, LSU and Mississippi and is tied with Florida.

Here is OU’s record:

  • 3-2-1 vs. Alabama
  • 10-4-1 vs. Arkansas
  • 2-0 vs. Auburn
  • 1-1 vs. Florida
  • 0-1 vs. Georgia
  • 2-1 vs. Kentucky
  • 1-2 vs. LSU
  • 0-0 vs. Mississippi State
  • 0-1 vs. Mississippi
  • 67-24-5 vs. Missouri
  • 0-0 vs. South Carolina
  • 3-1 vs. Tennessee
  • 19-12 vs. Texas A&M
  • 2-0-1 vs. Vanderbilt

The Longhorn’s overall record against the current SEC members is 191-91-9 (67%). That is affected by the series with Texas A&M, which was in the Southwest Conference and the Big 12 Conference with the Longhorns.

Texas’ record against the SEC is:

  • 7-1-1 vs. Alabama
  • 56-22 vs. Arkansas
  • 5-3 vs. Auburn
  • 2-0-1vs. Florida
  • 4-1 vs. Georgia
  • 1-0 vs. Kentucky
  • 9-8-1 vs. LSU
  • 6-1 vs. Mississippi State
  • 2-2 vs. Mississippi
  • 18-6 vs. Missouri
  • 0-1 vs. South Carolina
  • 2-1 vs. Tennessee
  • 76-37-5 vs. Texas A&M
  • 3-8-1 vs. Vanderbilt

The exit of OU and Texas leaves OSU, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia.

OSU President  Dr. Kayse Strum said in a statement, “This action was strategic, deliberate and results from months of planning with the SEC. These conversations, which developed over a long period, are a clear breach of the Big 12 Conference bylaws and broke the decades-long bond of trust between our universities. It is difficult to understand how an Oklahoma institution of higher education would follow the University of Texas to the detriment of the state of Oklahoma.”

About 10 years ago, OU and Texas entered into talks with the Pac-12 Conference but that was on the condition that OSU and Texas Tech be a package deal for a jump from the Big 12.

Previously, Colorado bolted from the Big 12 to the Pac-12.

It has been speculated that OSU could seek membership in the Pac-12 along with Kansas State. Iowa State and Kansas could be targets of the Big Ten Conference, which took Nebraska several years ago. West Virginia could be a good fit for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The departure of any of the remaining eight schools could doom the Big 12.

On the other hand, the Big 12 could expand and add teams. Some targets from the American Athletic Conference would be Houston, SMU, Cincinnati, Central Florida and perhaps Tulsa.

If the Big 12 raided the AAC, it would be a big blow to that conference.

Conversely, the AAC could invite all or part of the Big 12 remaining schools to join their conference, effectively ending the Big 12. A merger of the Big 12 and AAC is a possibility.

Another result of the jump to the SEC by OU and Texas could be a breakaway from the NCAA by the so-called Power Five conferences.