SEC expansion news: Which teams are moving from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference in the next two years?

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) will welcome two new institutions in an expansion ahead of the 2024 season. Texas and Oklahoma will end their days as members of the Big 12 conference at the end of the 2023 season to join the SEC.

The Longhorns and Sooners programs reached an agreement with the Big 12 and their television partners in February to leave the league one year ahead of schedule. This will see the two schools pay a total sum of $100 million to the Big 12 to join earlier.

The two schools will not directly pay the fee. Rather than Texas and Oklahoma paying an anticipated exit fee of approximately $50 million each, the Big 12 decided to allow them to depart ahead of schedule by foregoing $100 million of revenue distribution.

FOX will also receive a $20 million fee from the revenue distribution as compensation for the loss of future Texas and Oklahoma games after 2023. This amount aims to offset the financial impact of not having broadcasting rights to those teams' games.

Without a doubt, money played a huge role in this. It is widely speculated that the two teams were enticed by the SEC's lucrative television rights agreement. The conference inked a $3 billion, 10-year deal with ESPN in 2020. It is set to begin in 2024.

What do Texas and Oklahoma joining SEC mean?

The SEC has maintained a resounding dominance in college football over the last two decades. The conference has claimed 12 of the last 16 national championships, and its teams have consistently ranked high in the annual recruiting cycle.

The dominance is set to progress to another level with the addition of the Longhorns and Sooners programs. Texas and Oklahoma are the two biggest brands in the Big 12 brands and will play a crucial role in boosting public attention on the conference.

The move also signifies the end of conference games between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, known as the Bedlam Series. This longstanding rivalry began in 1904 and has been an annual matchup for the past 112 years. However, the series says “goodbye” in 2023.

While the Bedlam series ends, the Lonestar Showdown returns. The Longhorns and Aggies will resume their series as conference foes in 2024 when Texas joins the SEC following a lengthy hiatus. This revives a fierce rivalry that started as far back as 1894.

There is a load of anticipation in the world of college football that comes with the exit of Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12. This brings us to a new chapter in the recent wake of expansion and realignment.