It's official: the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas have accepted invitations to join the Southeastern Conference in 2025.

ESPN reports the board of regents for both Big 12 Conference founding schools voted unanimously to formally accept an invitation to join the conference.

"This is the right decision at the right time for the future of our UT athletics programs," Texas president Jay Hartzell said in a statement obtained by ESPN.

The next step for both schools is to determine when the move can become a reality and the fate of the remaining eight schools in the Big 12 Conference.

On Thursday (July 30), ESPN reported the 14 SEC presidents and chancellors all approved the founding Big 12 Conference schools' request, leaving OU and Texas to officially accept the conference's offer as the final piece to complete future realignment.

Oklahoma's board is met in Oklahoma City while Texas' contingency participated in a conference call on Friday morning.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey confirmed he received "formal requests for invitations" from the "two esteemed academic institutions with storied athletics programs" in a statement on SECSports.com Tuesday (July 27) morning.

"While the SEC has not proactively sought new members, we will pursue significant change when there is a clear consensus among our members that such actions will further enrich the experiences of our student-athletes and lead to greater academic and athletic achievement across our campuses. The Presidents and Chancellors of the SEC, in their capacity as the conference's Chief Executive Officers, will consider these requests in the near future. Per the Bylaws of the SEC, a vote of at least three-fourths of the SEC's 14 members is required to extend an invitation for membership."

On Monday, the two rival programs issued a joint statement to the Big 12 announcing that neither planned to renew their "grants of media rights following expiration in 2025."

The Athletic's Max Olson was among numerous college football reporters who shared the official joint statement on social media.

"The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Oklahoma notified the Big 12 Athletic Conference today that they will not be renewing their grants of media rights following expiration in 2025," the statement reads. "Providing notice to the Big 12 at this point is important in advance of the expiration of the conference's current media rights agreement. The universities intend to honor their existing grant of rights agreements. However, both universities will continue to monitor the rapidly evolving collegiate athletics landscape as they consider how best to position their athletics programs for the future."

Chad Tyson

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