It’s officially official. Oklahoma intends to leave the Big 12 Conference.

On a balmy Monday morning, the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns released a joint statement notifying the Big 12 Conference of their intentions not to renew their grants of media rights that are set to expire in 2025.

Since this whirlwind of a news cycle first began to roll last Wednesday, this was the expected next step for both OU and UT. Now, all signs point to the SEC being the destination site at the end of all of this.

So when will this move officially come into effect? Well, while Oklahoma and Texas ‘intend to honor’ their respective GOR agreements by remaining in the Big 12 through 2025, there is a very real chance that a transition could be made much sooner. Look no further than the wording. The unpredictable nature of this ‘rapidly evolving collegiate athletic landscape’ will ultimately dictate the speed of development as much as anything else, and with so many other programs involved, contractual adjustments are all but a foregone conclusion.

What we can say for certain is that this is officially the beginning of the end for the Big 12 as we know it. Whether the league can salvage what’s left of itself and add enough teams to hold its seat at the college football table is still to be determined. As for the SEC, the dawn of super conferences appears to be upon us. I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point over the next calendar year the Big Ten, ACC and/or the Pac-12 follow suit to expand their own leagues. Whatever the case may be, and however it all shakes out, it figures to be a wild ride.

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