Is Texas A&M Purposely Trying to Avoid Longhorns In SEC?

Texas A&M reportedly has some major objections to reigniting its rivalry with the Longhorns

Author:
Matt Galatzan
May 15, 2022 12:09 PM EDT

AUSTIN - The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners are set to join the SEC in the near future, after agreeing to part ways with the Big 12 last fall.

And per a recent report from Horns 247's Chip Brown, the Aggies aren't exactly thrilled about it, and are firmly against a yearly rivalry matchup with Texas.

Said Brown:

I’ve also heard Texas A&M does NOT want to be in the same pod with Texas.
A&M sources will deny that publicly. But A&M obviously didn’t want Texas in the SEC and might’ve tried to make a deal with the rest of the SEC: in exchange for A&M’s vote in favor of admitting Texas, the Aggies and Longhorns wouldn’t be in the same pod.

The report also states that, once the Longhorns and Sooners join the SEC, the conference is expected to break into four, four-team pods, rather than two divisions as it sits currently.

I’ve heard one proposal that had Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri in the same pod while A&M, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State would be in the same pod. Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and Vanderbilt would be in the same pod, while Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina would be in the same pod.

If that structure were indeed to be the case, instead of facing one another every season, the Longhorns and Aggies would only see each other twice every four years.

So when would this all happen?

Per a previous announcement from the schools, the Longhorns and Sooners are prepared to wait until the current grant of rights agreement, which is slated to run until 2025, expires.

Should the two schools elect to move earlier, they would be forced to forgo their remaining Big 12 television revenue of $160 million -- $80 million each.

However, that does not mean the move will not happen sooner. ESPN takes over the rights to SEC football in 2024, making that a logical time frame for a move.

Either way, despite being one of the most storied rivalries in all of the college sports, Texas and Texas A&M have not taken the field against one another since the initial move of the Aggies from the Big 12, and have struggled to find common ground in any attempt to revive that rivalry.

And for whatever reason, the Aggies seem firmly against making the Lonestar Showdown an annual affair once again.

Now the Aggies have no choice. Texas and Oklahoma are coming.

Texas leads the all-time series with the Aggies by a 76-37-5 margin, with the Longhorns winning the last game in College Station in 2011, and the Aggies winning the last game in Austin in 2010.

Texas had also won nine of their previous 12 matchups against the Aggies before the rivalry took its hiatus.

Not to mention, the Longhorns have been largely successful against SEC competition throughout their history, holding an all-time record of 191-8-89 against the conference, including a 7-1-1 record against Alabama, and a 4-1 record over Georgia.

You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan

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