SEC Unfiltered: No longer little brother, Texas A&M isn't scared of Texas, nor should it be
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Texas A&M isn't afraid of Texas, nor should it be.
When Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC, scheduled to occur in 2025, the Aggies want to play the Longhorns every year, Aggies athletics director Ross Bjork recently told the Houston Chronicle.
The Lone Star Showdown has been paused since 2011. Texas A&M left the Big 12 to begin competing in the SEC the following season.
You'd think renewing this rivalry is an obvious benefit of Texas joining the SEC, but it's not that simple.
The SEC is debating two schedule models for its expanded future.
One option is an eight-game SEC schedule in which each team would have just one designated rival that it would play annually.
In such a scenario, Bjork told the Chronicle, Texas likely would be paired with Oklahoma, while the Aggies would get LSU.
Bjork isn't a fan of that. That's one reason he favors the other model under consideration: a 3-6 scheduling format that would give each team three SEC rivals that it plays annually.
That 3-6 model would create enough runway for Texas A&M to play LSU and Texas each year, while the Longhorns could play rivalry games against OU and the Aggies.
“In an eight-game (SEC) model, Texas wants to keep Oklahoma, and Oklahoma wants to keep Texas,” Bjork told the Chronicle. “So, if you have only one permanent rival, that leaves us with LSU. We’re fine with LSU, but we want to play Texas (as well), and we want a third permanent rival."
Amen.
Texas A&M joins Alabama and Florida as three schools that are on record in favor of a nine-game SEC schedule under a 3-6 model.
Who favors the 1-7 model? That's murkier. No one is proudly proclaiming to support that model. That's not surprising, considering an eight-game conference schedule is the easier route. Who wants to admit they prefer the easy way out?
Not the Aggies.
They have no reason to, either.
Since the last major round of realignment, Texas A&M has ascended while Texas has sputtered.
The Longhorns enjoy a 76-37-5 advantage in the all-time series, but the Aggies no longer resemble little brother.
Texas A&M's handsomely-paid coach, Jimbo Fisher, is among college football's five active coaches who have won a national championship.
Fisher did so at Florida State, but he's building momentum in College Station. The Aggies narrowly missed the College Football Playoff in 2020, upset Alabama last October, and signed the nation's No. 1-ranked recruiting class this offseason.
Texas A&M is eager to show off its improved self to its old Big 12 and Southwest Conference rival.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Texas A&M football isn't scared of Texas in the SEC, and shouldn't be
