Auburn football and the entire SEC have a wealth of possibilities coming with the likely addition of Oklahoma and Texas to the conference.
The two Big 12 powerhouses were connected to the SEC at the end of last week and the news was soon followed up by even more rumors that a pair of historically dominant duos from two other Power Five conferences–Clemson and Florida State of the ACC, and Ohio State and Michigan of the Big Ten–could soon follow.
Those are much less concrete rumors than the seemingly imminent eastern swing of the Red River Showdown’s interstate rivals, though.
Yesterday, the Big 12 held a press conference to salvage the relationships. It doesn’t appear much has changed from it, according to ESPN’s Dave Wilson:
"Big 12 sources told ESPN’s Heather Dinich they are still expecting Oklahoma and Texas to formally notify the league on Monday that they don’t intend to extend their existing media rights deals with the conference, which expire in June 2025. While that is the first formal step toward exiting the conference, it also leaves open the possibility that both schools remain in the Big 12 until the deal expires. It’s a possible legal strategy, one source surmised, that would supersede the reality of the fractured relationships it’s bound to cause within the league."
Some key points: the fractured relationship with other member schools and unchanged intent of Oklahoma and Texas to notify the Big 12 that their deal is not once they want to continue pursuing.
Assuming the Sooners and Longhorns end up being SEC-bound, let’s assess the winners and losers from this arrangement: