Multiple sources confirmed to The Athletic that discussions have been ongoing for several months regarding the Red River rivals leaving the Big 12 a year earlier than planned, in time for the 2024 football season. “They’ve committed themselves in advance of me getting here, and they’ve reiterated that commitment.”īehind the scenes, though, that’s no longer the case.
“They’re going to be here through ‘25,” he told reporters. We're going to maintain that position, but we're also going to make sure that we're a leader in college athletics and we'll see what the future holds."Īt the Big 12’s basketball media day in October, new commissioner Brett Yormark spoke definitively about Oklahoma and Texas’ timeline for joining the SEC. "We love being the only program in the state of Texas (in the SEC). We wanted to have a stand-alone identity in Texas," Bjork said to Paul Finebaum on ESPN. "There's a reason why we left the Big 12. The rumors come nearly nine years after the Aggies, along with Missouri, left the Big 12 for the SEC. Wednesday's reports came as a surprise to many in the college football landscape, including to Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork. Oklahoma took a similar path as Texas, releasing the following statement: “The college athletics landscape is shifting constantly. We will not address rumors or speculation," a Texas spokesperson said in a statement. "Speculation swirls around collegiate athletics. An industry source with knowledge of the situation told The Athletic that Texas has been exploring other conference options for some time. Texas and Oklahoma have reached out to the SEC regarding their interest in joining the conference, according to multiple reports. College football occasionally can resemble a meritocracy on the field, but in terms of general popularity and conversation, it’s often more of a high school cafeteria vibe.
But for good or for ill, those one or two flagship programs in each conference are the names on the marquee, the teams that consistently drive television viewership, media dollars and online discourse. And it doesn’t mean other teams won’t elevate to win a conference title or vie for that throne of relevancy, whether it’s Penn State, LSU, Washington or whoever. In the Pac-12, it’s USC (for now) and Oregon.īeing one of those programs doesn’t guarantee teams are a lock to win the conference every year - it doesn’t even guarantee they will be good. In the ACC, historically it has been Florida State or Virginia Tech but instead has been Clemson for the better part of the past decade. In the Big Ten, it’s Ohio State and Michigan. In the SEC, it’s Alabama and Georgia, with a long, ruthless line of proud programs behind them angrily nipping at their heels.
It’s one more incentive for teams to play tough games outside of conference play.Every football power conference has its top dogs, its headliners. 2 team ranked highest by the committee plays No. If there is a tie between two teams that haven’t played, the No. If there is a tie between two teams that have played head-to-head, the winner on the field plays in the title game. The other two opponents on the schedule can be whomever a school chooses, but FCS games are highly discouraged and the Playoff committee penalizes teams that play them.Īnd if there’s no round-robin in a conference, we’re bound to get some ties that are tough to solve, but the solution is simple: Every conference title game pairs the top two teams in the conference standings. This setup provides more exotic in-season matchups we rarely get to see, especially considering the postseason setup. As for rivalries like Georgia- Georgia Tech, Florida– Florida State and Clemson- South Carolina: What if I told you those were no longer nonconference games? Schools can still control who they play, but adding this will allow for cross-conference rivalries like Iowa– Iowa State and USC– Notre Dame to continue without forcing schools to make those their only big-time nonconference games every year.
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