The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Oklahoma are officially invited to become members of the SEC.
On Thursday, July 29 the Presidents and Chancellors of the Southeastern Conference voted unanimously to extend membership invitations to UT and OU to join the SEC. The two teams’ memberships will be put into effect on July 1, 2025. The Sooners and the Longhorns will begin SEC play in all sports during the 2025-26 academic year.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said it was key for the SEC to have a united front.
“Today’s unanimous vote is both a testament to the SEC’s longstanding spirit of unity and mutual cooperation, as well as a recognition of the outstanding legacies of academic and athletic excellence established by the Universities of Oklahoma and Texas,” Sankey said. “I greatly appreciate the collective efforts of our Presidents and Chancellors in considering and acting upon each school’s membership interest.”
The meeting was convened after the two universities submitted a joint letter in request for SEC membership, on Tuesday, July 27.
A two-thirds vote, meaning 11 of the current 14 schools in the conference, voting affirmatively is the required number for the SEC to accept new members.
While it is unknown whether any schools initially voted no in the private discussions, when it came down to it, all 14 schools voted in favor of UT and OU joining.
Even Texas A&M, after previously being on the defensive of the Longhorns joining, voted in favor.
Director of Athletics Ross Bjork previously said he wanted A&M to be the only SEC school in Texas.
“We want to be the only SEC program in the state of Texas,” Bjork said. “There’s a reason why Texas A&M left the Big 12 — to be standalone, to have our own identity.”
The Sooners and Longhorns are expected to accept the invitations.