Texas vs. Texas A&M used to be one of the marquee match ups of the year. The annual Big 12 rivalry was one of the bigger draws for the conference until it ended abruptly with the departure of A&M to the SEC. Initially, there was hope that the rivalry would be kept alive. That hasn’t happened.
In fact, the two teams haven’t managed to meet a single time since A&M moved to the SEC in following the 2012 season. If you ask former Aggies athletic director Billy Byrne, they’re better off without the Longhorns.
“Their AD (DeLoss Dodds) at the time came out and said we will never play Texas A&M again, and they worked along with Baylor and the conference to have no one in the (Big 12) schedule us,” Byrne told John Talty of AL.com. “There were other forces at work to make sure we didn’t play.”
The switch to the SEC proved to be a prudent and fruitful move for the Aggies. They boast annual games against Alabama, LSU, and Auburn now. Their national profile has helped to attract some of the top recruits in the country on a regular basis and they have started to produce more first round selections than ever before.
“We don’t need them anymore,” Byrne said.
It’s difficult to disagree with him. While Texas has squandered the last few football seasons with mediocre coaching and poor results on the field, A&M has continued to grow. At least for the time being, the Aggies have become the big brother in this quickly fading rivalry.
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