Texas Football: 3 things that have to happen to join the SEC

The idea that the likes of Texas football and the Oklahoma Sooners could bolt from the Big 12 to join the SEC in the near future is all of the buzz around college sports right now. Although it’s not just the football program obviously that this could happen for Texas, the move to the SEC is a discussion that would mainly make waves on the gridiron and to the school’s and conference’s bottom line.

Texas and Oklahoma first had this intention of leaving the Big 12 reported on the afternoon of July 21 in a hotly discussed Houston Chronicle piece. That report from the Houston Chronicle indicated much more urgency than one would initially think about the idea of the Longhorns and Sooners leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, essentially stating that a decision could come imminently from the two schools.

Texas football and OU trying to leave the Big 12 for the SEC has hurdles

But there is no real mention from the SEC on where the discussions for these two schools to join actually stands at the moment. Concrete evidence has surfaced from the Texas and Oklahoma sides at this point that there is real interest in joining the SEC.

Between Texas and Oklahoma not renewing the media contracts with the Big 12 and the original confirmed reports of the schools reaching out to the SEC to test the waters, if nothing else, there’s enough here to say that a shift could be happening.

Now saying that a shift could be happening compared to something actually taking place this year are two very different things. There are clearly some other key events on this conference realignment timeline from the Texas and Oklahoma sides that has to happen before the schools could join the SEC.

Let’s take a look at three things, in particular, that must happen for the Longhorns before joining the SEC.