The college football landscape has changed. The SEC is gaining two of the Big 12’s most esteemed programs in the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns. With the Southeastern Conference’s expansion, it certainly raises the question on the current relationship between Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. With the current climate, it is not out of the question to confer that both sides might feel differently in light of recent events.

Without their most prominent programs, the future of the Big 12 seems underwhelming. In contrast, with the addition of OU and Texas, the SEC is on the cusp of a powerhouse conference in college football. A super conference that will change college athletics moving forward.

In a recent appearance on the ‘Paul Finebaum Show,’ Sankey discussed his current relationship with Bowlsby. He provided a reminiscent vantage point to previous mergers within college football and previous colleagues casting aside differences to work together in past expansions.

“I’ve had subsequent opportunities to watch colleagues work through those issues with expansion, again at the ACC to the Big East, or the Big Ten adding members from the Big East and ACC, and there are those moments we all have a responsibility to guide forward to work, obviously, to lead our conferences and I’m certain that we will, we will work to do so.”

A rather business approach but to be expected following such an upheaval. Both the Sooners and Longhorns have accepted official invites to join the Southeastern Conference but the official move will not happen for several more years. The two programs are scheduled to enter the SEC on July 1, 2025. This provides time for broadcasting contracts to be made and finalized, along with an adjustment period for all parties involved.

SEC presidents unanimously voted to have Oklahoma and Texas join the conference and now the aftermath from the move will be sorted through.