The SEC also stands to gain no small amount of athletic tradition, in part because of the ties between Oklahoma and Texas, whose ritual entanglements include the Red River rivalry football games that have been played annually since 1929. Although Oklahoma has not won a national championship in football since the 2000 season, it has reached the College Football Playoff four times since 2015. Its men’s and women’s gymnastics programs are some of the country’s most formidable, and the university won this year’s national title in softball. Texas football has had a checkered 21st century. More tellingly, neither pledged allegiance to the Big 12, and instead insisted they would not respond to, as Texas put it, “rumors or speculation.”

Source: New York Times July 30, 2021 16:23 UTC