UT and Oklahoma going to the SEC

[Night Owl]

UT and zero U sent letters today informing the SEC they are applying for admission. The SEC stated they would consider the requests. Eleven SEC colleges have to vote yes for this to happen.

[ExKilleencitizen]

According the various news reports, the only SEC school opposed to the admission of OU and UT is Texas A&M. Also, both OU and UT can buy out their remaining years with the Big 12 and leave before 2025 if they choose to do so. I'm sure that both schools can do that easily. Now, whether that's a good expenditure of public school money (aka tax dollars) is not debatable in my opinion because we can all agree that it is not.

Boomer Sooner!

[Ludwig]

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... OU and UT can buy out their remaining years with the Big 12 and leave before 2025 if they choose to do so. I'm sure that both schools can do that easily. Now, whether that's a good expenditure of public school money (aka tax dollars) is not debatable in my opinion because we can all agree that it is not....

What if it's not tax dollars but rather the profits from the exorbitant prices of tickets to athletic events? I strongly oppose the expenditure of public funds for any extracurricular enterprise; they ought to be self-supporting.

[Rick]

I find it odd that a school receiving state dollars can make these decisions without legislative approval.

[sickofpc]

That is rather odd, isn't it, but after all, it is the University of Texas..with all that it is....
I am not going to repeat myself again about the moneys, but...just look up for yourself the profits made by UT athletics, specifically football, and see for yourself if UT is using tax dollars for athletics. Look up the three most profitable football programs in the country....
Lud, you think athletics should be self supporting....check the money figures.

[gnatsum]

Former OU coach Bob Stoops is all for OU going to the SEC.

“Let’s set the record straight: OU’s move to the SEC is what’s best for Oklahoma,” Stoops wrote, via The Oklahoman. “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.”


Stoops also listed the benefits of joining the SEC in his op-ed.

“The advantages are many — greater financial opportunities, better exposure, stronger recruiting and increased competition. Playing in front of full, huge stadiums will be attractive to our players, recruits, and our supportive fans. OU will be competing at the highest level of college football, which is exactly where we should be. I can’t wait for SEC programs to face our teams and our fans — I think both are the best in the country.”

Coaches, players and fans will need time to adjust to the SEC, but this move could pay off in the long run. At least that’s what Stoops thinks.

[gnatsum]

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I find it odd that a school receiving state dollars can make these decisions without legislative approval.

THIS JUST IN--Texas State Senator now pushing for the Legislature to decide FIRST if TX...AND OU (?!?)... can join the SEC (think the author of the story is of the belief that Texas controls Oklahoma politics?) .
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nca...Kdq?li=BBnb7Kz

In an 11th-hour attempt, at least one Texas state senator is attempting to block the the Longhorns and Oklahoma from leaving the Big 12.

State Sen. Brian Birdwell has co-authored and filed a new bill requiring “approval from lawmakers before state universities can switch athletic conferences.” Because the UT system is a state entity, Birdwell claims it is owned by the people of Texas.

“The people in Waco, and Lubbock, and Fort Worth are just as much customers of the UT system as students and faculty in the UT system,” Birdwell told KWTX. “So the real frustration here is that the University of Texas system has put itself on a track to impact potentially three other locals in the State of Texas adversely without any consideration to those impacts.”

On Monday, Texas and Oklahoma released a joint statement saying they would not be renewing their grant of rights agreement with the Big 12. The SEC officially confirmed both schools have applied for membership.


Birdwell isn’t the only politician who has expressed concern over Texas and OU leaving the Big 12, but unfortunately, it is highly unlikely his bill will have any chance of overturning the decision.

“The bill has significant hurdles: namely, it’s not on the current special agenda, and if it was, the House Democrats in D.C. would stop its companion bill, HB 298, from being voted on anyway,” KWTX wrote.

[sickofpc]

That senator makes some valid points, but, does his bill have any chance of passing? No

[gnatsum]

And another take on the UT move to the SEC--the writer believes that the SEC would rather have UT than Texas A&M?!?
https://www.star-telegram.com/sports...253030318.html

Why Texas A&M wants no part of Texas, or Oklahoma, in the SEC | Opinion
BY MAC ENGEL

The SEC’s treatment of Texas A&M should serve as a warning to every Aggie that in the eyes of the conference they are no different than Arkansas or Missouri.

Because of its size, Texas A&M is secure regardless of however college athletics, and football, exist, and change in the coming decade.

The Aggies will always be a part of big-time college football.

On Monday, Texas and Oklahoma issued a joint statement that it plans to leave the Big 12 when its media rights agreement expires after 2025. It also issued the dreaded, “However” sentence that suggests they want to get out of this ASAP.


The Texas A&M Board of Regents met at 5 p.m. Monday to discuss Texas and Oklahoma’s move to the SEC. This meeting is a formality, and the subject should have been removed from the docket.

While A&M leaders, such as athletic director Ross Bjork, now welcome the addition of UT as a fellow conference member, it’s too late.

Their first reaction was their genuine feeling about this. They don’t want UT again for the logical reasons, and it reeks not of pettiness, but fear.

On Tuesday morning, the SEC issued a statement from commissioner Greg Sankey that acknowledged the league is considering adding both Texas and Oklahoma.

There was never anything Texas A&M could do to stop this, because in the eyes of the SEC, the Big Ten, the Pac-12, the ACC, Fox Sports, or ESPN, the real prize in Texas is the University of Texas.

Because, much like Auburn will never be Alabama, Texas A&M will never be the University of Texas.

Every single Aggie knows what is coming, and the return of second-class treatment by both the conference, and everywhere outside of College Station.

Of course, it will be fun to watch for the first time in its history when Bevo pushes out his belly and tries to bully the room when Alabama says, “You’re adorable. We’re not doing that. The adults are talking. Now sit down and eat your orange slices.”

The SEC is an Alabama/LSU/Georgia/Florida league first. Ask Ole Miss about this.

UT isn’t even in the conference yet and its already received preferential treatment by a league A&M has been a member of since 2011.


There are few bigger T-shirt schools in America than the University of Texas; whereas A&M has created a level of solidarity and community on the strength of its alums that is virtually unseen by other every big university in the country, UT has both its exes, and a legion of fans and supporters who never attended that university.

The value in that is no different than the Catholic who loves Notre Dame, buys the Fightin’ Irish hats and sweatshirts, and has never once visited South Bend, Indiana.

You can’t put an exact value on that type of support, and only a few schools in the nation actually have it.

Texas is one. Oklahoma is another.

Hence the reason the SEC cannot wait to have them.

Texas A&M got away from the University of Texas in 2011 for several valid reasons, and had successfully cultivated an SEC niche in the state that was distinct and marketable.

The Aggies now have to deal with the Longhorns again, and if they sincerely believed they are as good as they say the last thing they should fear is the University of Texas.

They should welcome the return of one of the greatest college football games in America. But they don’t want the game, nor do they want Texas, or Oklahoma, as conference partners, for a reason.

In the last two years, Texas A&M has been a better football program than Texas, but we know what is coming.

Both Bevo and Boomer will make Reveille’s life more difficult, and that much harder to win a conference, much less a national title, in football.


When they were all paired together in the Big 12 South between 1996 and 2010, A&M went to two Big 12 title games, and the last one was 1998.

Texas or Oklahoma reached the conference title game every other time, and A&M was firmly behind both rivals.

The same has been true in the SEC West; the Aggies have yet to reach a conference title game, and the best it has finished in the division is a couple of second-place finishes since 2011.

Texas and A&M should both be more concerned about Oklahoma than each other, but that’s another rant.

The Aggies spent millions to be where they are, and believed they were done with “tu” because the SEC was watching out for them.

They weren’t.

Because, in the end, the SEC’s priority was Texas rather than Texas A&M.

[sickofpc]

That's a very good article and all true. ..A&M hates and envies, no matter what they say, UT,... always have, and always will...A&M looks like they will be better this year than in a long time. With a seven million dollar a year coach, I would think they should be. ....Would love to see UT and the Aggies play... this year. ...You think that game would draw a little interest?