Texas and Oklahoma formally request invitation to the SEC

After the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners informed the Big 12 Conference on Monday morning of their intentions not to renew their grants of rights when they expire in 2025, the schools sent a joint letter to the SEC on Tuesday morning requesting invitations for membership.

Addressed to Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner, the letter reads:

The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Oklahoma (the “Universities”) request invitations for membership to the Southeastern Conference (the “SEC”) starting on July 1, 2025. We believe that there would be mutual benefit to the Universities on the one hand, and the SEC on the other hand, for the Universities to become members of the SEC.

We look forward to the prospect of discussions regarding this matter.

The SEC released a statement addressing the request.

SEC presidents are scheduled to meet on Thursday, at which time the schools could vote on inviting Texas and Oklahoma to the conference, though it’s not immediately clear if the invitation will happen so quickly.

Officially, both schools are still sticking to the publicly-expressed timeline of 2025, but a Monday report from SB Nation’s Dawg Sports indicated that Texas plans to pursue entry into the SEC for the 2022 season, according to highly-ranked sources at the university. In fact, UT Board of Regents chairman already has the buyout money lined up, which could reach $80 million.

“He believes getting into the league for the 2022 season would help Texas from a recruiting and branding standpoint, and quicken the university’s ascent back to the top of the sport,” a source said of Eltife.