Powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma Raise Status as SEC Newcomers

DALLAS – Everything is bigger in Texas, even college football these days.

The arrival of Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners in the SEC elevated two of the sport’s biggest brands and boosted the country’s main football conference.

“When you look at the Jordan brand, the SEC and the OU logo, it’s amazing,” said Oklahoma star linebacker Danny Stutsman, an alumnus of Winter Garden’s Foundation Academy. “Everything comes together. OR is OR, but now it’s one step bigger.”

The SEC hosted its Media Days this week in Dallas, the first time the league has ventured west of the Mississippi River since the event began in 1985.

Commissioner Greg Sankey’s bold decision to plant a flag in the Lone Star State put SEC newcomers center stage and attracted hundreds of additional members of the media.

“It’s time to update your expectations for what college athletics can be,” Sankey said during his annual Media Days commencement address.

The Longhorns and Sooners arrived in Dallas eager to reap the spoils of the SEC.

“It brings more lights, more cameras, more attention,” said Oklahoma safety Billy Bowman Jr., who joined Stutsman in the preseason first team All-SEC. “If we go to the SEC along with Texas, that’s a lot of exposure.”

The conference has dominated college football, producing 11 of the last 15 national champions — six since the start of the four-team College Football Playoff in 2014.

Alabama, Georgia and LSU are the only SEC schools to make the playoffs, but Oklahoma has four appearances — more than anyone else except the Crimson Tide (8), Clemson (6) and Ohio State (5). Meanwhile, Texas qualified in 2023.

“The SEC is all about football,” Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold said. “Their fans are all about football – and OU’s fans are the same way.”

Given the new additions and the league’s competitive depth, the expanded 12-team playoff will be a boon for the SEC.

Eight teams or more could make the preseason Top 25. A season after finishing 10-3, Oklahoma was picked by league-wide media to finish eighth in the expanded SEC, which will no longer have divisions.

“You think about our league, 12-0, 11-1, 10-2, some would argue maybe even 9-3 [will qualify]”, Gators coach Billy Napier he said. “It’s a game changer. We thought our game was popular before. We will involve more people than ever before in the history of the game.”

Sankey welcomed Texas and Oklahoma in July 2021 with the future in mind.

New experiences and challenges await both programs.

“It’s going to be new faces, new matchups, new locations,” said Texas offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr., the only Longhorns position player named to the All-SEC first team. “Everything will be able to increase it because it is a new experience for everyone.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com