“The expectation is for (Texas and OU) to play in the SEC in 2022,” another SEC athletic director told me. “It doesn’t do anyone any good for them to be in one conference and committed to another beyond that one year.”

Texas and Oklahoma are expected this week to inform the Big 12 that they’re not renewing television media rights after the current contract ends in 2025, and then they’ll officially apply to the SEC.

In the last round of expansion, Texas A&M (added September, 2011) and Missouri (November, 2011) moved to the SEC from the Big 12, and played the 2012 season as official SEC members.

Texas and OU could finish out the current media rights deal and leave after the 2024-25 collegiate season, but that means 4 lame-duck seasons and a loss of revenue: Texas and OU are projected to make as much as $25 million more annually in the SEC.

How does the 1-year transition happen? Here’s where it gets a bit dicey – but again, you better believe all three major players involved (SEC presidents, presidents of Texas and OU and Sankey) have thought this through.

Conference departures are never easy, especially when they can lead to the significant weakening of a conference or even its death. Conferences use exorbitant exit fees to keep schools from leaving, though those fees are typically litigated and mitigated into a more manageable number.

When Texas A&M and Missouri left the Big 12, they owed about $30 million each. The settlement reached between parties was $12.4 million each.

Texas and Oklahoma would owe an estimated $80 million each to move to the SEC for the 2022 season. But using the previous reductions as a scale (58%), the two universities could owe around $46.4 million.