Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy: Oklahoma, Texas 'took a lot of history' out of Big 12, college football

STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said Tuesday that Oklahoma and Texas «took the money and ran» in leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

«Let's just cut to the chase. They made a choice to financially secure their athletic departments for the next 12 to 15 years,» Gundy told ESPN. «People can talk about all the reasons, but that's why they did it, all for the money, and took a lot of history out of this league and a lot of history out of college football with them.

»Now, they're not the first ones to do it. Texas A&M did the same thing when they jumped ship to the SEC [in 2012]."

Gundy, entering his 18th season as Oklahoma State's coach, guided the Cowboys to a 12-win season a year ago and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame. Oklahoma State ended the regular season with a 37-33 victory over Oklahoma, which in Gundy's mind will almost certainly be one of the last Bedlam games.

«They sort of made that decision when they left for the SEC,» Gundy said. «It's just not going to be feasible. We're scheduled out to 2036, I think, and I'm sure the SEC is going to nine conference games. They'll have to, or the media will kill them. The fans would love to keep playing [Bedlam], but the people behind the doors who make the decisions are going to say, 'No.'

»That's what you lose, some great rivalries and a lot of history."

Gundy is confident that the Big 12 isn't going anywhere and is unfazed about all the talk of the league's teams losing their brand names.

«That's never going to change. They're always going to talk about brands, and there are always going to be teams that get ranked in the preseason polls just because people think they're surely going to be a Top 25 team,» Gundy said. «But those polls don't mean