No. 7 Texas stampeded past No. 18 Oklahoma State, 49-21, to capture its first Big 12 championship since 2009, doing so in its final year of membership before leaving for the SEC in 2024. The potential of a Longhorns win, coupled with a trophy presentation with Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, made for an intriguing underlying story for Saturday's conference title game.
Back in August, Yormark very publicly called for Texas Tech to beat Texas the day after Thanksgiving -- a sentiment that didn't exactly sit well with the Longhorn faithful. So it's no surprise that same group rained boos from the stands of AT&T Stadium when Yormark began speaking. Those boos then gave way to "S-E-C" chants directed towards the commissioner before his spiel was finished.
Brett Yormark tried to speak. Texas fans wouldn’t let him, booing relentlessly and chanting “SEC! SEC!” pic.twitter.com/7lSUQYBBVl
— Bob Ballou (@BobBallouSports) December 2, 2023
Sarkisian appeared to make an attempt to quiet down the fans as the Longhorns received their spoils, but those sights and sounds certainly won't be forgotten anytime soon as Texas now gets set to head to greener pastures, along with rival Oklahoma.
Now 12-1 and with a Big 12 title in hand, Texas awaits its fate in the College Football Playoff race with the four-team field set to be revealed Sunday. The Longhorns are all but at the mercy of outcomes in conference title games elsewhere, given they have a loss on their résumé. Regardless, Texas has its best finish in more than a decade locked up and can at least expect a New Year's Six bowl berth, if not more.
And barring any unforeseen twists and turns, the Longhorns likely won't be encountering Yormark again anytime soon as they claim the last laugh with the Big 12 commissioner.
