The Big 12 has released a statement in response to the announcement from Texas and Oklahoma that they intend to depart from the conference.

Monday morning, Texas and Oklahoma released a joint statement on their plan to depart from the Big 12. While the SEC was not mentioned in the release, it has been reported by multiple outlets that it’s the desired destination.

“Although our eight members are disappointed with the decisions of these two institutions, we recognize that intercollegiate athletics is experiencing rapid change and will most likely look much different in 2025 than it does currently,” said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby.  “The Big 12 Conference will continue to support our member institutions’ efforts to graduate student-athletes, and compete for Big 12 and NCAA championships.   Like many others, we will use the next four years to fully assess what the landscape will look like in 2025 and beyond.  The remaining eight institutions will work together in a collaborative manner to thoughtfully and strategically position the Big 12 Conference for continued success, both athletically and academically, long into the future.”

Below is the statement Texas and Oklahoma released earlier Monday:

“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 said. “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.”

Sunday night, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby released a statement saying that presidents from Texas and Oklahoma both met with the conference’s executive committee about staying in the league. Bowlsby thought those talks went well.

“The meeting was cordial, and the Executive Committee expressed a willingness to discuss proposals that would strengthen the Conference and be mutually beneficial to OU and UT, as well as the other member institutions of the Conference,’ Bowlsby said. ‘I expect that we will continue our conversations in the days ahead and we look forward to discussing thoughts, ideas and concepts that may be of shared interest and impact.”