July 29, 2021 It is no great secret that ESPN played a significant role in shepherding Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, much as the sports broadcasting goliath in Bristol has its paws on many other moves in college sports. The Big 12 Conference and commissioner Bob Bowlsby are mad about it… but they now have to prove it in court. With the SEC voting unanimously (even Texas A&M — the vote was 14-0) to approve Texas and Oklahoma as new conference members on Thursday, the Big 12 faces a difficult set of choices, but the one easy choice is to do nothing. Earlier this week, the Big 12 sent a cease and desist letter to ESPN, claiming that the network was directly involved in steering Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. Bowlsby used the word “deception” in his comments about the matter, and he essentially made the case that ESPN engaged in collusion.