What If Texas Joined the SEC Early?

With Texas' addition to the SEC this year, it's easy to wonder what college sports could have been like if they'd always been there. And while the Longhorns were a pioneer for the Southwest Conference and had some levels of success in the Big 12 Conference, especially early, there are some questions that arise about what would have changed in the world had they joined in the 1990s. Oddly enough, thanks to a Sports Illustrated article released in 2016, we can consider this hypothetical, since it almost came to pass in 1989.

Gone are the possibilities of the South Carolina Gamecocks and Arkansas Razorbacks joining the SEC in 1990, meaning the futures of the Big 12 and ACC are changed as well. Texas A&M and Texas Tech's futures might not change as much, but schools like Houston and Baylor might have switched destinies, and those who were spurned by the Longhorns in real life, Nebraska and Missouri, might have found reason to stay. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Florida State may have been intrigued enough to join the SEC instead of the ACC. Anything is possible here following the butterfly effect.

This video is made under the pretense of Fair Use due to its educational content. No aspect of media utilized in this video is my property. Video is sourced from Texas A&M, Texas, and Arkansas athletic departments and their respective broadcast partners. Music is sourced from YouTube's free audio library.