Old Foes in a New Conference: What the realignment means for Aggie Football
Conference realignment continues to be a major theme in college football, as the Big 12 announces that the University of Texas Longhorns and the University of Oklahoma Sooners are coming to the Southeastern Conference in 2024. For the SEC, this means uncertainty, excitement and divisional realignments. For the Big 12, this means a new era of athletics with new programs at the forefront. But for Texas A&M Football, this means that two famous rivals are back on the schedule.
A&M Football hasn’t lined up against Oklahoma since quarterback Johnny Manziel beat the Sooners in the 2013 Cotton Bowl Classic, and the Aggies haven’t played the Longhorns since 2012, when kicker Justin Tucker walked it off for the Longhorns in Kyle Field. Both programs will likely make their famous returns on A&M’s schedule in 2024, when the long-awaited realignment takes place. This will have major implications for all three programs, as well as the SEC and college football as a whole.
The revival of the Lone Star Showdown will undoubtedly be the headline-grabbing news once the realignment happens. The return of the iconic in-state rivalry comes at an interesting time for both programs. The Longhorns’ head coach, Steve Sarkisian, will likely be entering his fourth year at the helm in Austin and will have had plenty of time to instill his ideology and mentality into the program. Meanwhile, the Aggies will likely be going into the season with offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino in his second year of calling plays for Jimbo Fisher, and their historic 2022 recruiting class will be ready to make a statement.
As of the 2023 season, the Aggies are still the new kids of the SEC. Because of this, the Ags don’t have the same level of rivalry against their conference opponents that the other schools have with each other. The return of their famous rivalries with Texas and Oklahoma will certainly change that.
This is the new look of the SEC. Two of the sport’s most heralded programs are joining its ranks, and one of college football’s greatest rivalries is finally coming back.
