The SEC is dead. Long live the SEC.

Welp, it looks like they got ‘er done.

Texas and Oklahoma’s path to the SEC in 2024 has been cleared.

The Longhorns and Sooners have finalized an agreement with the Big 12, as well as its television partners, to exit the league one year earlier than scheduled, sources tell Sports Illustrated. Under the agreement, the schools would join the SEC in July 2024, in time to participate in the ’24 football season.

The agreement ends several months of discussions for an early separation and comes just days after negotiation snags seemed to trigger reports of an altogether end to talks—something refuted to SI by multiple sources last week. Turns out, the parties—specifically networks ESPN and Fox—restarted negotiations soon after the latest hitch and were steered toward a compromise by self-proclaimed dealmaker Brett Yormark, the brash Big 12 commissioner who seven months into his tenure has scored a lucrative victory for his legacy schools.

As might be expected, there are a lot of moving parts to this deal.

Texas & Oklahoma will leave Big 12 a year early & join SEC in 2024. OU & Texas will not pay an exit fee, but will forego $100 million in revenue from Big 12. In December, @ActionNetworkHQ 1st reported there was "growing momentum" for the schools to leave a year early

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) February 10, 2023

OU & Texas leaving Big 12 after this season to join SEC in 2024 by forgoing $100M of revenue distribution. Fox will receive $20M of that, sources told @ActionNetwork. Also, OU & UT will not receive full SEC share 1st year in league in 2024, sources said https://t.co/bHB2wROjMJ

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) February 10, 2023

Sources: A key part of the deal to let OU and Texas out of Big 12 early was a game flip of a non-conference match-up between Michigan and Texas. Texas will now visit Michigan in 2024 in Ann Arbor and Michigan will return the game in Austin in 2027. They’d been scheduled opposite.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 10, 2023

Left unsaid there is perhaps the biggest piece of the puzzle yet to be determined, the reshaping of the SEC’s contract with ESPN for broadcast rights, which kicks in, not coincidently, in 2024.

It’s definitely the end of an era for the Southeastern Conference, as it’s widely expected that this season will mark the last with divisional play.  But there’s all that new money coming!

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