The SEC is going to get bigger. Texas and Oklahoma will be joining to expand the conference to 16 teams. But when exactly is that going to happen?

There’s been speculation that the Longhorns and Sooners could potentially get out of their contracts with the Big 12 and make the jump before the initial target date in 2025. However, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey spoke about the topic on “SEC Nation” on Saturday and indicated that that is unlikely to happen.

“We’ve talked about the ‘25 season,” Sankey said on the show (h/t Riley Gates of 247Sports.com). “[Friday with Big 12 expansion] was an interesting day. Everybody has relationships, a lot of work to do, we’re focused on ‘25. We wanted to be respectful, even though when you go through conference transition, people will throw that back at me. But credit to the SEC and the University of Texas, and the University of Oklahoma, who wanted to be a part of this great conference. We’re going to have an orderly transition and that’s why we’re focused on ‘25. But I’m a pretty adaptable person.”

It could be difficult for Texas and Oklahoma to try to get out of the Big 12 earlier than that.

“I don’t know that it is possible, honestly, because there are contractual relationships involving their current conference,” Sankey said, per Gates. “But we have a forward-looking thought process. Part of my responsibility is to be prepared when you have those outreach and we’ll see.”

So the 2 newest members of the SEC may not actually be in the conference for several more years. Eventually, the Longhorns and Sooners will arrive, making the SEC even more competitive than it already is.

Fans are just going to have to wait a bit before getting to see that happen.