Both the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma have reached an agreement to leave the Big 12 Conference in 2024, one year earlier than initially planned.
Prior to the agreement, which the Big 12 announced Thursday night, talks of an early departure for Texas and Oklahoma had persisted for several months. The Southeastern Conference had previously voted unanimously to absorb the Longhorns and Sooners beginning in 2025.
The schools, whose boards must give final approval on the agreement, are expected to compete as SEC members for the 2024 football season.
Per the Big 12, ‘Compensation to the conference for the early withdrawals of the two schools totals $100 million in foregone distributable revenues, which OU and UT will be able to partially offset with future revenues.’
“As I have consistently stated, the Conference would only agree to an early withdrawal if it was in our best interest for Oklahoma and Texas to depart prior to June 30, 2025,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement. “By reaching this agreement, we are now able to accelerate our new beginning as a 12-team league and move forward in earnest with our initiatives and future planning.’
BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston will officially join the Big 12 this July. The Big 12 will spend one year as a 14-team conference before dropping down to 12 teams for 2024-25. Texas and Oklahoma are set to join the SEC in July 2024, according to a statement released by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
