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Texas and Oklahoma want to leave the Big 12 for the SEC?

Why Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC would be bad for the NCAA. Plus, where will Chris Paul play next year? And, with Finals ratings up, why change the schedule?

HOOVER, Ala. — Could college football's most high-profile conference be expanding again? 

A new report on Thursday from the Houston Chronicle said team officials from the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma have reached our to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) about leaving their current conference, the Big 12. Oklahoma and Texas are massive on the national college football stage. 

On Thursday's Locked On Today podcast, Locked On SEC host Chris Gordy said the unexpected news on Wednesday sent shockwaves through radio row at SEC media days.

While Gordy said Oklahoma's desire to join the Big 12 makes sense to him, Texas does not. 

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"It's an interesting twist," Gordy said. "Oklahoma, I get it. You're playing in the Big 12, you've got an opportunity to join the SEC, the primo conference in just about every sport and makes a lot of money with the SEC Network."

"The Texas one is a little bit head-scratching, just from the standpoint that they stood firm years ago after they started the Longhorn Network, which they make a lot of money off of as their own independent network, if they were to leave that behind and join the SEC, you become part of the SEC Network," Gordy said. "Why would you want to give that up? And on the flip side, Texas A&M came out Wednesday very firmly saying 'we want to be the only team in the state of Texas in the SEC.' That's why Texas A&M left the Big 12 behind, to be the only team in the state of Texas in the SEC."

The question that has been bubbling in college football for years, along with the name, image and likeness rules, has been these big conference possibly defecting from the NCAA. Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC, could bring that conversation into more light.

"It's what the NCAA and a lot of college football purists have feared for years," Gordy said. "You already play for an independent entity. For years, it was the BCS, now it's the College Football Playoff and they're not under the umbrella of the NCAA. We may be heading down a very confusing road in college athletics in the near future if these bigger universities and schools start teaming up and creating superconferences leaving the NCAA behind."

In 2012, Missouri and Texas A&M announced they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, which gave the SEC its current 14 teams. 

Also on today's Locked On Today:

  • With the NBA Finals ratings up, why go back to the former schedule?
  • What is the future of Chris Paul in Phoenix? Could he be headed to LA?
  • The NHL's newest expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, continued to take shape on Wednesday night with the 2021 expansion draft.
  • The USWNT began its 2020 Olympics, looking confused in a 3-0 loss to open Group G play to Sweden. 
  • Softball returns to the Olympics for the first time since 2008.The United States beat Canada 1-0 to get their second Olympic win. 
  • Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich said Wednesday that he has chosen not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and that he will join Pac-12 media day in Los Angeles remotely Tuesday.

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