Explaining what role Texas, Oklahoma play during SEC meetings

The SEC Spring Meetings features two new members this year, as presidents and athletic directors from Oklahoma and Texas arrived in Destin to meet with the current 14 teams in the conference. The Sooners and Longhorns won’t join the SEC until 2024, but are still on site to offer their thoughts on issues for the conference.

On3‘s Ivan Maisel appeared on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on Wednesday to explain what role Oklahoma and Texas will play in those discussions. Although the teams don’t have an official vote yet, their opinions will be considered.

“Well, they don’t have a vote, but ‘voice’ is the perfect word,” Maisel said. “They are allowed to discuss. They will participate. Greg Sankey explained it to me as straw polls. They can vote until it counts. But they will be heard and I think it will be fascinating to see how they interact with everybody.”

Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione and Texas AD Chris Del Conte are both on hand at the SEC Spring Meetings. The opportunity will allow them to get a feel for what things are like before their vote becomes official next season.

“I talked to Joe Castiglione, who’s been the AD at Oklahoma forever, last week, and he was genuinely excited to see how Destin worked and to get with everybody,” Maisel said. “These are two well-respected ADs and two well-respected university presidents. They can chime into everything until they actually sit down to vote.”

Whether to move to a nine-game conference schedule in 2024 is perhaps the biggest issue facing the SEC. Obviously, that issue is related to the Sooners and Longhorns joining the league that year.

For right now, it appears that teams are leaning toward sticking with an eight-game model currently in place for at least the first season of OU and Texas’ arrival. That would be a change for both teams, as the Big 12 operates with a nine-game league slate.

Oklahoma, Texas expected to renew Red River Rivalry with State Fair of Texas

If an eight-game schedule is ultimately what is decided upon, teams will keep one traditional rivalry for the 2024 season. Naturally, the Sooners and Longhorns would stick with each other, and the Red River Rivalry is expected be renewed at the Texas State Fair.

Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione revealed conversations have not begun between the two programs and the State Fair but will begin soon. There are no plans to go anywhere else despite constant talks about AT&T Stadium or possibly going home and home.

Every year since 1932 has Texas and Oklahoma played at the Cotton Bowl. Austin, Norman, Oklahoma City, and Houston all hosted in the early days of the rivalry but Dallas was set in stone and has been the venue for over 90 years now.

A Big 12 logo will be on the Cotton Bowl field for the last time in 2023. Beginning in the 2024 season, there will be a fresh-looking SEC logo on the 25-yard line, signaling a new time in the Red River Showdown.