The SEC is a year away from expansion. Thursday evening the Big 12 announced an agreement with Oklahoma and Texas that would allow both schools to leave the conference following the 2023-24 athletic year. That is one year earlier than initially planned when both schools announced their future departure to the SEC.

Following the Big 12’s decision, the SEC announced both Oklahoma and Texas will be welcomed into the conference beginning on July 1, 2024. The 2024 season will also see the Big Ten add Southern California and UCLA, setting up two 16-team power conferences in college football. It will also mark the first year of the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

It’s currently unknown how the SEC will divide its new 16-team league and how that will affect the Crimson Tide. Alabama is one of the SEC programs that has expressed interest in moving to a nine-game conference schedule. However, other programs in the conference prefer keeping an eight-game model which would feature just one permanent opponent.

The Crimson Tide has a 2-3-1 record against Oklahoma, beating the Sooners 45-34 during their last meeting in the 2018 Orange Bowl. Alabama is 2-7-1 against Texas following last year’s 20-19 victory in Austin. The Crimson Tide will host the Longhorns on Sept. 9 next season.