Greg Sankey was a major player in the addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. As the SEC commissioner, he helped kickstart the move toward superconferences in college sports.

On Thursday night, news broke that the Big 12 had reached an agreement to let the Sooners and Longhorns exit the league a year early. So now the 2 schools will officially join the SEC on July 1, 2024.

Sankey issued a statement on the matter, saying the SEC would work toward welcoming the 2 powerful programs a year early:

“The Southeastern Conference learned today of the decision by the Big 12 Conference to alter the membership exit date for the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas,” Sankey’s statement reads. “We are continuing our preparation for this membership transition, and we look forward to welcoming the conference’s new members and moving into our future as a 16-team league.

“The presidents and chancellors of the SEC previously voted with unanimous approval to accept the application of Oklahoma and Texas to join the conference on July 1, 2025 and have now authorized the conference office to proceed with facilitating the transition of Oklahoma and Texas to become full members of the Southeastern Conference on July 1, 2024.”

The path is now cleared for Texas and Oklahoma to join the SEC a year early. We’ll see how the 2 schools fare in 2024 and beyond!