The Southeastern Conference will undergo significant changes starting in the 2024-25 season. The University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma will join the SEC. Each of these schools will bring further competitive strength to SEC athletics.
Softball
The Longhorns and Sooners are bringing heat to already-dominant SEC softball programs. Seven SEC programs made it to the 2024 Super Regionals, and Oklahoma and Texas advanced to the championship series.
Oklahoma is redefining the game of softball. The team is the first in college softball history to win four consecutive national championships.
Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said that while the SEC is the best league, it is only getting better.
“You know when they add programs, add teams, schools, they’re going to be the best of the best,” Weekly said. “That’s what it’s going to be in softball.”
The SEC only expects to grow its viewership with the incoming tide of passionate fans from both new schools.
Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy told All Sooners, “I think we have 3,200 season ticket holders; we average almost 3,800 a game. When they [Oklahoma] play at home, those three games will be sold out in February. There will not be a ticket.”
Baseball
Over the last 10 years, seven national championships have been won by an SEC school. This year, it was Tennessee.
Oklahoma baseball has won 60% of its games over the last five years, and Texas has won 69% of its games over the same period.
The Longhorns’ newly-hired baseball coach, Jim Schlossnagle, previously coached at Texas A&M for three seasons.
At a press conference in mid-June, Schlossnagle called the SEC “the major leagues of college athletics.”
Basketball
In 2024, a total of four SEC teams made the women’s and men’s Sweet 16. For the women’s bracket, the programs were South Carolina and LSU. For the men’s bracket, it was Alabama and Tennessee. South Carolina won the women’s national championship over Iowa.
Texas basketball is only going to up the standards of SEC basketball. The Longhorns women’s team made it to the Elite Eight, beating Alabama in the second round, and the men’s team made it to the Round of 32.
In the 2023-2024 season, Oklahoma men’s basketball played one SEC team, Arkansas, and beat the Razorbacks 79-70. The women’s basketball team played Ole Miss and Tennessee. Against Ole Miss, Oklahoma won 80-70, and against Tennessee the Sooners lost 73-76.
Whether men’s or women’s, Oklahoma basketball has shown that opponents will face tough competition anytime they and the Sooners share the floor.
Gymnastics
While Texas does not have a gymnastics program, Oklahoma has one of the best in the country. Oklahoma remained No. 1 until it had some crucial missteps in the 2024 national championship semifinals.
Competition like this will bring motivation to Alabama’s team to compete even harder. In the 2024 season, the Crimson Tide posted a score of 198 against the Sooners.
The 2024 season ended with LSU bringing home the gold. Oklahoma joining the conference will only make the SEC Gymnastic Championship an event with a hotter ticket.
“It truly elevates the excellence of the sport of gymnastics,” rising senior and Alabama gymnast Lilly Hudson said of Oklahoma joining the SEC. “The SEC is the most competitive, high-level conference in the country, and Oklahoma joining will only add to this. The top athletes will compete against each other every week, only making everyone better.”
Alabama fans can expect great competition any time Oklahoma gymnastics is in the picture. Oklahoma continues to break NCAA records, and just this year, it set a new team scoring record of 198.950.
