Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark says ‘nothing has changed’ in Texas, Oklahoma SEC timeline

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said “nothing has changed” in regards to Texas and Oklahoma’s departure timeline to the SEC.

In October, Yormark said the teams would remain in the Big 12 “through ’25” but as previously reported by The Athletic, there have been discussions for the Red River rivals to leave in time for the 2024 football season.

“If there’s an opportunity for us to come together as a collective to figure something out where there’s an early exit, we’d be open to that discussion,” Yormark said at Saturday’s College Football Playoff media day in Los Angeles.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said he has “watched the ball bounce on the Big 12 side over the last six months.”

“There was openness, and then there was a statement that ‘Oh, no, there wasn’t openness,’ so I just look at the reality that there’s a relationship, a Grant of Rights between Oklahoma, Texas and the Big 12, and we’ve told our folks, ‘Could the date change?’ Sure. But that’s not in my control. And if it does, we’ll be prepared to adjust.”

When the schools announced their intent to leave the Big 12 in July 2021, they remained bound by the conference’s Grant of Rights for another four years. Violating that commitment could result in a hefty payout as the Big 12’s bylaws state that a departing member would forfeit its final two years of conference revenue distributions.

“We don’t have a scheduling format in football, so that accelerates things,” Sankey said on the complexities of realignment. “From November of 2011 to August of 2012, we expanded from 12 to 14, so relatively speaking we have a lot of time still.”

On his optimism of a deal being made Sankey said: “I’m neutral. They’re contractual relationships.”

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(Photo: Aaron E. Martinez / Austin American-Statesman – USA Today)