Where will SEC Media Days take place in 2024? Texas & Oklahoma impact felt immediately in Southeastern Conference

The news of Big 12 staples Texas and Oklahoma decamping to the SEC has been shaking up the college athletics landscape for a while. Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey announced a move that could further aggravate the Big 12 on Monday.

The presence of Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC is already being felt as Sankey announced that the 2024 SEC Media Days will be held in Dallas, Texas.

Next year's media days will be held at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, the venue where the Big 12 used to hold its media days. The SEC will also put up the conference colors in the Dallas sky during the event.

Media days have been in Nashville and Atlanta as the SEC has started rotating the event, which had traditionally been held in Birmingham, Alabama. The conference is headquartered in Birmingham.

Conference realignment and expansion always comes with controversial moments. Big 12 Deputy Commissioner Tim Weiser made some controversial comments when discussing the issue of Oklahoma and Texas' move to the SEC.

"I think they (Oklahoma) 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 versus OU football game, basketball game and all the things that we know from an OU-Texas standpoint are really important," Weiser said.

Commissioner Sankey's response was immediate and precise.

"Let me be clear," Sankey said. "That's fiction. Period. That's fiction."

The Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma is one of the nation's fiercest rivalries, and it will add spice to the now 16-team Southeastern Conference.

The twin departures from the Big 12 was thought to be financially motivated. And the programs even accelerated their plan from 2025 to 2024. This involved paying a combined fee of $100 million to the Big 12.

SEC commissioner's controversial view on NIL

Commissioner Greg Sankey has never hidden his views on the NIL ruling that has changed the face of college sports. He has said before that a consistent regulation should be enforced instead of the current version where states make their own tweaks to it.

Sankey's comments on the regulation of NIL were criticized in some quarters for seemingly trying to take away the autonomy of student-athletes.

"We’ve identified where the potential policies would be in conflict with state laws, and then we’ll have to engage, if we’re going to go the state route, with some space if the conference is going to be the regulatory and oversight body,” Sankey said.

Greg Sankey signed a five-year contract extension on July 13 that will come to an end in 2028.