Goodbye to texas university, so long to the orange and the white. Good luck to dear old Texas Aggies, they are the boys who show the real old fight.
If A&M is truly leaving for the SEC, and most signs suggest as much, these time-honored lyrics to the Aggie War Hymn could garner an ironic new meaning. Though the move would be with A&M’s best interest at heart, leaving the Big 12 for the SEC would mean completely severing ties with some of its most traditional and bitter rivals.
No more Tech.
No more Baylor.
And — just maybe — no more Texas.
Aggies, Raiders, Bears, Longhorns and everyone in between have certainly pondered what a strange world it would be if these matchups were to vanish as early as the 2012 season. Whether or not you support A&M’s move to the SEC or claim not to care about the dissolution of such rivalries, the absence of these cherished matchups could make for an awkward start. Just ask Arkansas.
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe has been especially adamant about convincing A&M to stay in the Big 12. His argument (besides the conference losing gobs of money and all legitimacy as a long-term entity): rivalries.
“Obviously, there’s a significant number of Aggie supporters who are interested in going [to the SEC],” Beebe said. “There’s a huge risk if an institution leaves its geographic proximity and rivalries. In the long run, it can create a lot of problems.”
Unfortunately for Beebe, A&M likely has its mind made up. The SEC presents the best opportunity to move forward in terms of visibility and revenue while the Big 12’s future remains firmly in a Longhorn vice-grip. The argument that suggests A&M leaving behind its rivalries creates “problems” is vague and mediocre at best.
This begs the question: how new is the SEC; really? Already set with regional – and very real – rivalries, there is no doubt that A&M could also rapidly adapt to their potential new home. Two rivals come to mind immediately and another would make sense.
Already playing in the so-called “Southwest Classic,” A&M-Arkansas is a no-brainer. As a former SWC team, and one that already endured the “new kid on the block” tag after leaving for the SEC in 1992, the Aggie-Razorback rivalry would flourish. Combining for 30 total SWC football titles between the two, the A&M-Arkansas game has often been for high stakes. Though Arkansas has formed a solid rivalry with LSU over the years, A&M would give them a true and traditional conference rival.
LSU and A&M also share a considerable amount of history. The series sits as the 9th and 8th most played for LSU and A&M, respectively. Combine the great series history with two of the most passionate fan bases in the country, and one can only imagine the intensity.
LSU head football coach Les Miles — who coached against the Aggies at both LSU and Oklahoma State — sees great potential in a renewed A&M-LSU series.
“I certainly understand the want to be in this league,” Miles said. “There are some great advantages [to joining the SEC]…if [A&M] gets on the schedule, we’ll look forward to that competition.”
As for a third rival: Alabama.. The two share more history than the 4 game series would indicate. Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant is a legend at both schools, giving A&M its only Heisman Trophy winner in John David Crow and collecting 6 national championships as head coach of the Crimson Tide. Gene Stallings, one of A&M’s “Junction Boys,” led the Aggies to a SWC championship in 1967 and coached Alabama to a national championship victory in 1992. Stallings victory over “Bear” Bryant’s Tide in the 1968 Cotton Bowl is regarded as one of the greatest moments in Aggie history.
And yet, there’s still something to be said about the old Texas rivalries that goes way beyond the field or court. Aggies, as mostly Texans, often work or live with Raiders, Bears and Longhorns alike. Those rivalries, for generations, have been an integral piece of the Texas cultural fabric.
Then there’s the history and tradition. With Tech, who can forget the ever-colorful Mike Leach era and how “once in a while, a pirate can beat a soldier?” The 1926 brawl with Baylor is the stuff of legend among both Aggies and Bears. With Texas, bonfire remains one of A&M’s most cherished traditions.
As A&M bids adieu to the Big 12, however, it seems unlikely that a series with Tech or Baylor would continue. Meanwhile, the fate of the 117 year-old A&M-Texas game on Thanksgiving is still up in the air and, according to A&M President Dr. R. Bowen Loftin, would be the Longhorns decision to make.
“That’s a historic rivalry,” Loftin said. “We see no reason why it could not continue under a different conference arrangement if they chose to do so. We certainly want to make that part of any discussion we have with another conference.”
Common sense would say that too much tradition and money would be lost if the Longhorns decided to blackball the Aggies. After all, Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson and Georgia-Georgia Tech all have annual non-conference battles with no issues whatsoever. Then again, with emotions running so high, who’s to say the Longhorns wouldn’t leave A&M hanging out of spite?
Fortunately for the Aggies, if the Longhorns proceed with the latter, A&M would be far from alone.