Tom Herman is down with Texas playing Texas A&M again
By John Buhler
New Texas Longhorns head football coach Tom Herman is absolutely on board with his team playing the in-state rival Texas A&M Aggies in the non-conference.
It’s been a while since the Texas Longhorns have been on top of the college football world. The end of the Mack Brown era in Austin wasn’t great and the Charlie Strong era was a colossal failure. Now there is a new sheriff in town, as it is the Tom Herman show. Herman left the Houston Cougars after two years to help right the ship at this traditional football power.
A lot has changed since the last time Texas football was rock solid back in 2009. That would include quite a lot of conference realignment. The Big 12 is a shell of its former self with only 10 teams and the Longhorn Network as a big reason for that. One of the teams that left the Big 12 were the in-state rival Texas A&M Aggies.
Texas A&M has benefitted marvelously since joining the SEC West in 2012. While the Aggies have only won 10 games in a season once since the big move to the SEC, it’s time for them to rekindle their in-state rivalry with Texas. Herman is 100 percent on board with this, but what about his university?
Herman stated at Big 12 Media Days in Frisco, Texas on Tuesday, “we don’t play a rival at home ever. I don’t know why we can’t play [Texas] A&M as our marquee non-conference opponent.” This comment is multi-pronged for sure. Herman essentially states that the only rivalry game that matters to Texas is the Red River Rivalry with Oklahoma played at the neutral-site Cotton Bowl in Dallas. How does Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech or TCU feel about that?
Next, it might be a tad more complicated to get Texas A&M on the schedule since the Aggies’ departure to the SEC. With realignment, the Big 12 plays a nine-game conference schedule against all of its conference opponents. Texas would have three dates to theoretically schedule Texas A&M in the early part of the season, but that couldn’t overlap with the Aggies’ eight-game SEC commitments.
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As it is with most of conference realignment, it just feels wrong that Texas and Texas A&M don’t play annually. It one of those rivalries like the Border War and the Backyard Brawl that have shamelessly gone to the wayside in the Power 5 era. Maybe one day Texas and Texas A&M will put each other on the schedule? Until then, it’s just wishful thinking for Herman.