Big 12 commissioner: Schools’ exit to SEC a ‘betrayal’
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks in measured tones about the decision by Oklahoma and Texas to leave for the SEC. Asked if he’s still pissed off more than three months later, the answer is nuanced but clear.
“Being, to use your term pissed off about it, I can’t allow myself that,” Bowlsby said. “I have to get over the sense of personal betrayal and do what’s necessary for our eight continuing members. And that’s what we did.” Personal betrayal.
That’s what he feels Texas President Jay Hartzell and his Oklahoma counterpart Joe Harroz Jr. did when they schemed behind the scenes earlier this year to change conferences. Bowlsby fully expects both the Longhorns and Sooners to remain in the Big 12 until June 30, 2025. But you’ll forgive him for keeping the contract close, just to be certain.
In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with the American-statesman at Big 12 men’s basketball media day, Bowlsby laid bare his feelings about Oklahoma and Texas leaving. “We’re going to have to find ways to get along,” he said. “We have to work together, and we will. But I would say trust is at a relative low.”
So why does Bowlsby believe the two schools are leaving?
“Haven’t the vaguest idea,” he said, sitting in the bowels of T-mobile Center. “To this day, they’ve given us no answers to that question. Either one.” Why not?
“You’ll have to ask them that,” Bowlsby said. “I’ve asked repeatedly, and they never made us aware of any concerns in advance. When we’ve asked the question since then, we’ve gotten no response.”
Does Oklahoma and Texas know the competition will be much harder in the SEC? It’s widely believed it would be much easier to reach the College Football Playoff in the Big 12 than the SEC, where Alabama reigns supreme and everyone else struggles.
“That’s not my responsibility to explain that to them,” Bowlsby said. “They’ve got 50 years of experience. They ought to be able to figure that out for themselves.”
Texas’ top officials, like Hartzell and System Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife, still have never gone in depth about why they wanted to leave the Big 12. Their only public comments have been carefully-crafted statements about the school’s long-term future.
“They’re thinking they’re going to recruit better and they’re going to get more money,” Bowlsby said. “Anybody that thinks Texas’ football problems have been a result of league affiliation are completely delusional.”