Texas Football: SEC trying to keep ‘respectful’ relationship with Big 12

What is likely to be one of the rockier relationships at the moment around the college sports landscape among the power conferences is largely because of the realignment caused by the Texas football program (among other sports of course) and the Oklahoma Sooners. The Big 12 can’t be happy with the SEC right now since this move for Texas and Oklahoma to leave last month is causing a seismic shift in yet another round of conference realignment.

But this round of conference realignment looks to be one of the biggest in college sports history. The Longhorns and Sooners got a ball rolling that was anticipated for a while now, especially after NCAA approval of NIL rules.

There were some interesting but rather diplomatic words that came from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey this week, per 247Sports. Sankey noted that conference realignment is just part of the game now in college sports and that he and the rest of the SEC administration are just trying to keep things respectful with the Big 12.

SEC’s Greg Sankey has a lot of balls in the air with Big 12’s Bob Bowlsby following move by Texas football and OU

He mentioned that the Big East likely had some tensions with the ACC back during the last round of conference realignment in the 2000s and early 2010s. But this is definitely on a different scale than that round of conference realignment roughly just over one decade ago.

Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 will hurt this conference, but it is something that the two did to the school’s benefit. That makes sense, and it’s something that was going to happen for some of these bigger athletic programs financially propping up other conferences.

There is a right that the Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby has to be upset about how this all went down. Sankey, along with the Texas and Oklahoma administration, largely kept this move quiet for the past few months.

And there’s not much of a bigger bombshell for the likes of the Longhorns and Sooners to drop on the Big 12 than that the two schools are abruptly leaving for the SEC in a matter of less than four years. That could actually wind up being in a matter of 12 to 18 months, depending on how things shake out in the coming weeks and months.

This fall will be an awkward time on the gridiron without a doubt with Texas and Oklahoma still competing in the Big 12. But it likely won’t be too much longer for these two schools to start competing in the SEC.

Texas and Oklahoma will still be playing in the Big 12 this fall. New head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns are set to open up the 2021 regular season at home on Sep. 4 against Louisiana. And then the Big 12 slate is set to begin on Sep. 25 at home against Texas Tech.