Texas, OU are leaving the Big 12 for the SEC after this season. Here’s how the rest of the conference feels about it.

ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s arguably the most talked about storyline heading into the 2024 college football season for the Big 12 Conference: Texas and Oklahoma leaving for greener pastures in the SEC.

The Big 12 will boast 14 teams in 2023 for the first time in the conference’s history with the additions of UCF, Houston, Cincinnati, and BYU. Texas and Oklahoma have been the conference’s top two brands, by far. Losing them will be a shot to the conference’s credibility and star power.

With the addition of the other four, all of whom had eight or nine wins in their previous conferences, adds more depth to the Big 12. Multiple coaches from around the league called the Big 12 the deepest conference in college football during Big 12 Media Days.

The burning question, however, is how do these other teams feel about Texas and Oklahoma throwing up a peace sign to a conference they’ve called home since its inception in 1996 and beyond — under the name of the Southwestern Conference.

The reactions were mixed. Some brushed it off and didn’t give it any mind. Others didn’t and were not afraid to share their mind. Here is how the conference reacted to the question, starting with the league commissioner:

Opening statement / Commissioner address

“We accelerated Texas and OU withdrawal, which was a win-win for all parties. We completed an organizational redesign.”

Q. Expansion already began before you took the job for the Big 12, and on July 1 you added four new teams, and this will be a different year because Texas and OU are still here. Can you touch on the uniqueness about what this season will be having 14 teams?

“I’m really excited about this season. In fact I think it’s going to be a year of celebration. We’re going to celebrate our continuing eight. We’re going to celebrate our new four. And in fact, we’re going to celebrate Texas and Oklahoma and all the contributions they’ve made to this conference since day one, because they’ll always be a big part of this conference. For me, it’s really a year of celebration, and we’re very excited about it.”

Q. Brett, in terms of pecking order in the Power Five, where would you say the Big 12 is positioned right now and for the future, and would it be better for the league if maybe somebody besides Texas and Oklahoma didn’t win football this year? 

“So from my perspective, and I’ve said this before, I’m not really competing with the other Power Five conferences. I want the Big 12 to be the best version of ourselves. If we can do that, we’re in a great place. It’s not about ranking us within the Power Five, but I can tell you this: There’s been no better time to be a part of the Big 12 than right now. This thing is going to grow. It’s going to move forward in a positive way. I’m really excited about our future.”

Q. Going off that, what specific things will be difficult maybe to replicate with Oklahoma and Texas leaving, whether it’s the Red River game, just the tradition of those schools, and how do you plan to replace those things?

“Well, listen, they have great identity. They’re national brands. They’re a big part of the history of this conference. But like I said last year, this conference is bigger than any two schools. We’re in a great place. There’s never been a better time than right now to be involved with this conference, and I’m excited about our future.”

Q. You mentioned in your opening statement one of your achievements was accelerating withdrawal of OU. Tell us what those negotiations were like trying to get OU out early, what was that back and forth like, and how long did it take for those negotiations to come to an end?

“I’ve got a great partnership with the folks at Texas and Oklahoma. When there’s mutual respect and when you’re looking for a win-win scenario, those negotiations don’t really take that long. We all wanted the same thing, and we got there. I’m happy for them. I’m happy for us. We brought closure to an issue that was highly discussed this time last year, and I’m happy we did.”

Q. Steve, talking about that SEC talk, do you expect this season at all to be awkward, just kind of going through it with the SEC talk and your exit?

“It won’t be awkward for us. I can’t speak for anybody else. It won’t be awkward for us. We’ve got a roster full of players who quite frankly came to the University of Texas to try to win a Big 12 Championship, and we’ve got one more opportunity to do that, and I think our guys are focused on that. And so it won’t be awkward from our end, but like I said, I can’t speak for everybody else.”

Q. Your last regular season game in the Big 12 is against Texas Tech. Does that game hold any extra weight given it’s a rivalry and how that game went last season? 

“I hope it carries extra weight because hopefully we’re competing to get into the championship game. But the reality of it is, hey, we’ve had some longstanding games with a lot of teams in the Big 12, and we’re going to embrace every opportunity we get this year. I think it’s pretty clear and easy to say, hey, we’re going to get everybody’s best shot every Saturday. The key to the drill is that we make sure they get our best shot every Saturday, and that final game on Friday after Thanksgiving will be no different.”

Q. You and the other coaches are here to promote not only your school’s brand but the Big 12’s brand. Is it a little awkward that two of the other schools are not going to be here next year, and are you coming to terms with the fact that you’re going to face your longtime rival for the last time this year?

“Well, it’s been talked about so much now, I don’t really think that any of us pay much attention to it. I mean, I’m excited about the conference this year and what we have, the schedules that are being played. As I said earlier, I think that we have the most exciting conference right now because it wouldn’t be fair for any of us to say that we actually know what’s going to happen in Big 12 Conference play this year, based on the last two or three years and how the games have gone and the teams that have had success and the teams that haven’t had success. I’m excited about that,” Gundy said. 

“I’m a very traditionalist when it comes to conference rivalry games and such. I’m sure you’re referring to the Bedlam game, this being the last one. The Bedlam game is over because Oklahoma chose to leave the Big 12, period. It’s not nothing to do with Oklahoma State. Do I like that? No. Do I like that conferences have broken up in the past? No, I don’t. But I also know that we have to control what we can control, which is conference realignment is there. It’s probably still going on. Wherever we all end up and whatever schedule they give us to play, we all play it and do the best we can.”

Q. Coach, the Bedlam game is going to be laid to rest because of the happenings, but would you entertain the idea from your perspective and Oklahoma State to play them as a non-conference game? 

“No. We have nine conference games scheduled, and then we have, I think, through 15 years, we’re scheduled all the way up, and we’re full for the most part, and we have Power Five teams. I’m going to go back to what I said earlier. Oklahoma State is not going to change what we do because Oklahoma chose to go to the SEC. They need to change what they do because they’re the ones that made their mind up to go to the SEC,” Gundy said. 

“So with all the talk from administration and people saying that Oklahoma State needs to do this and that, all Oklahoma had to do was not go to the SEC. So it is what it is. We can cut right to the chase. For me, I want to listen to the board. I’ll listen to the president. I’ll listen to the AD if that’s something they want to do. I’m good. But I don’t think it’s going to happen based on the way the scheduling is. Everybody needs to realize, it didn’t have to happen if they didn’t change leagues.”

Q. Baylor and Texas have been in the same conference for over a century. Baylor is the only school who has been both in the Southwest Conference and the Big 12 who gets to host Texas this year. You’ve talked about how important winning at McLane is. Do you expect to have a different environment when the Longhorns make their last trip ever to Waco?

“Appreciate the question. Have a great respect for Texas football, for their history, and for Coach Sark and what he’s building and how he’s recruiting and their style of play. They’re right on the forefront offensively and defensively of being creative and innovative, and a lot of their players I know about and am expecting a battle. A lot of it is we need to bring that battle to them, and so I think anything less with Baylor-Texas is not enough. I’m anticipating a great game there and appreciative of the opportunity.”

Q. After you beat Texas in overtime at your place, you said everything runs through Lubbock. Do you still stand by that, and do you feel like Tech may be in position to maybe be the flagship program of the Big 12 going forward?

“I love that question for so many reasons. For one reason because Pat Clancy is here and he is our storyteller for Texas Tech. I told him after that, I said some things are just for the locker room and some things are for everybody. He looked at me and he said, I’m sorry, Coach. And I said, you know what, Pat? There’s nothing that comes out of my mouth that I don’t truly 100% believe. So maybe that was for the locker room, but I still believe it. I think that’s such a powerful word, and whenever you have that in a locker room, you can do some incredible things. So I think our players do believe that,” McGuire said. 

“I do think in 2024 there’s an opportunity for some teams to take a huge step in this conference. It’s going to start this year with what we do, but whenever you have an administration and an alumni base that is behind a university like they are at Texas Tech, you do have that opportunity. We have a $219 million project going on right now. We’ll have as good a facilities as anybody in the country. We have a very healthy locker room. We have a group of guys that believe in each other. I feel like we’re in a really good spot. I can’t wait to get into Big 12 play. And kind of like last year, there’s going to be a lot of really good games, and we’re excited to be a part of them.”

Q. I do want to ask, yesterday I know Coach Gundy kind of blamed OU football for not having the Bedlam game anymore. My question to you is does Oklahoma or would Oklahoma consider playing that in a non-conference game, which I think as media and fans, we would love to see that rivalry continued because rivalries are so big in college football?

“I appreciate the question, and say hey to Steve for me. Look, I’m not in control of whether or not we play Oklahoma State. I love college football. I love the traditions of the game. I love rivalry games. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have played for over 100 years, and Oklahoma has been dang good in those games for a long time. But whether or not we play them in the future, nobody is asking me what I think. If they do ask me, I’ll tell them what I think. I’d love to play the game. But we’re going to play the schedule that they put in front of us.”

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