Texas Football: Would leaving the Big 12 for SEC be the right idea?

While this is a subject that would need to take on a lot more angles and in-depth discussion than we’ll get to in just this piece, it is worth talking about the breaking report that dropped from the Houston Chronicle on the afternoon of July 21. This report from the Houston Chronicle on this afternoon mentioned that Texas football and the Oklahoma Sooners have discussed leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in the near future.

More than one decade after all of the shake-ups that took place in the Big 12 during conference realignment, the conversation is seemingly starting up again. The Big 12 saw the likes of the Mizzou Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies leave for the SEC. And the Colorado Buffaloes and Nebraska Cornhuskers left the conference for the PAC-12 and Big Ten, respectively.

Moreover, the initial thought during conference realignment was that Texas and Oklahoma could help to form a super-conference of sorts with the PAC-10 (at the time). But the SEC might make more sense at this point in time for the Longhorns and Sooners than the PAC-12.

Conference realignment coming about again for the Texas football program?

That is especially true with how the SEC has expanded its geographic footprint and took in a few former Big 12 foes of Oklahoma and Texas. Restoring that elusive rivalry with Texas A&M in the Lone Star Showdown could be huge for the Longhorns and college football as a whole.

It’s hard to know exactly where the Longhorns and Sooners are at right now in terms of actually trying to leave the Big 12 for the SEC. But this is obviously abrupt news for both fan bases, along with the Big 12 altogether.

This Houston Chronicle report did mention that this is a deal that “could evolve fast” in the coming weeks. And a Longhorns’ spokesman also mentioned on this matter that the athletic department is “unaware” of any of these sorts of discussions with the SEC and/or Big 12.

If Texas and Oklahoma were to leave for the SEC, it’s hard to imagine that move could actually logistically take place within the next year or two. Schedules are largely set in football, and other major sports like men’s hoops at least throughout the next athletic calendar year.

There is a lot of change that has taken place for the Longhorns within the athletic department this year, including head coaching changes to the football and men’s basketball programs. This obviously is one of the biggest emerging storylines yet that we will continue to monitor.