Oklahoma and Texas may be arriving in the SEC earlier than expected, according to a report from Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

The report suggests there’s momentum and growing sentiment about the move. There remain many obstacles for an early move, but the “climate is right” for the Sooners and Longhorns to exit the Big 12 after the 2023 season and begin play in the SEC in 2024, according to the report.

“There’s a lot of moving parts, but there is the desire on many fronts for this to get done,” an industry source told McMurphy.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has said that he’s still working from the idea that the move would happen in 2025.

Here are some factors to explain why the timeline has moved up:

    • The Big Ten grows to 16 teams with the addition of USC and UCLA in 2024, coinciding with the first year of the
    • College Football Playoff’s expansion to 12 teams.
    • The Big 12 decided to add four teams in 2023 — even before OU and UT remained in the league.
    • The Big 12 securing its new media rights deal.

Big 12 bylaws require Oklahoma and Texas to pay the sum of the league’s distribution for two years — which is about $84 million per school, sources said. Historically, when a school leaves a conference, that exit fee is negotiated down to about 60%, meaning OU and Texas could possibly get out for about $50 million each.