Realignment Dominoes Could Kill Pair of Arkansas Rivalry Games

SEC games with Florida State, Clemson circling drain, but might battles with Texas A&M, Missouri go down with them?

Arkansas running back AJ Green scores a touchdown against Texas A&M in the Southwest Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. / Nelson Chenault – USA TODAY Sports

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – If Arkansas fans had hopes and dreams of SEC showdowns with the likes of Clemson, Florida State and Miami in Razorback Stadium, it appears they may be slipping away.

Not because the ACC had a sudden influx of cash and all is swell on the East Coast. It's a combination of reasons that have the Big 12 anxiously ready to scoop them up as soon as they become available, which is expected to be sooner than later if the latest buzz is to be believed.

The SEC has reportedly been a little cool on adding Clemson or any schools from Florida because it doesn't want to ruffle feathers with Florida and South Carolina and any future expansion is supposedly centered on adding both a marquee name along with expanding reach into new markets. The Tigers, Hurricanes and Seminoles don't meet this criteria, so the prevailing thought is the SEC is looking to pick a different part of the proverbial ACC bone.

Neither Clemson, nor Florida State, are AAU accredited, so the Big Ten is out of the question barring a major shift in philosophy. Miami meets the criteria, as do Virginia and North Carolina, so with geography no longer a thing in the Big Ten, each are possible targets.

What is left is an aggressive Big 12 with a respected conference commissioner in Brett Yormark who happens to be seeking partners out east to fill in the gap between TCU and Oklahoma State and West Virginia and Central Florida.

Clemson and Florida State fill this role nicely, as would Louisville and Georgia Tech. Pitt is also a potential option.

It too is an AAU accredited school and a natural fit for the Big Ten, but Penn State already gives the conference a huge stake in the Pennsylvania market, so there's a chance the Big 12 could snag a basketball rich school instead of Georgia Tech. The Panthers would give West Virginia, Cincinnati and Louisville a geographic partner.

Of course, with any set of realignment moves comes fallout, and for the first time, the SEC might become a target as the Big Ten looks to exert its personally perceived dominance. The two most likely targets happen to have titled rivalry game against Arkansas – Missouri and Texas A&M.

Both are AAU accredited and have legitimate reason to want to consider possibly leaving the SEC. Mizzou often finds itself the odd school out with which no other conference schools want to dance.

It's often the butt of jokes in the weekly SEC comedy sketch circuit as they are shown to be outsiders no one wants around that everyone thinks is in the Big Ten already. A lot of people legitimately think the Tigers were once in the Big Ten, but, instead, they hail from the variations of the Big 12.

The same reasons people mistakenly think they are in the Big Ten are exactly why they are a philosophical fit should the conference come calling. Beyond the educational reputation as a research university, Columbia has far more of a Midwestern vibe to it than anything resembling southern culture.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, even if there is a desire to join the Big Ten, it's unlikely to happen. Mizzou brings almost nothing to the table athletically. In the 12 years they have been in the SEC, not only have the Tigers not won a national championship in any of the main men's and women's sports, they haven't even won a conference championship and are often non-competitive.

That's not the case for Texas A&M. The Aggies have multiple national championships in track and field, were a Texas meddling away from being national champions in baseball this year, and have a strong argument to have been in the playoffs for football back in 2020.

Yes, they meet the AAU requirement, but the idea of Texas A&M leaving is tied to the frustration about Texas being let into the conference and nothing more. No one disputes the Aggies' place even if they can be a bit weird most of the time.

While most of Texas, including Austin, doesn't fit in the SEC, East Texas is merely an extension of Arkansas and Louisiana. The Aggies assimilated quite nicely with the rest of the conference.

Plus, flying to all corners of the earth for football and basketball from that area of Texas to play Big Ten teams in Washington and across the lake from Toronto, Canada is wildly unappealing. Also, the idea of trading in SEC baseball for Big Ten baseball is a miserable proposition for pretty much anyone.

So, while the Aggies may already be over the Texas Longhorns and all the problems and baggage that come with them, it's not enough to go running to the Big Ten. Mizzou might jump at the chance, but Texas A&M and its piles of cash will stay right where it is.

Hope of playing Clemson and Florida State may be fading, but there's always that faint ray of light that Missouri might finally join it's most natural fit in the the Big Ten. A world where non-conference basketball games with the Tigers become a thing again, Eli Drinkwitz and his try-hard approach to making people care about the Arkansas-Mizzou game goes away and the forced Battle Line Rivalry gets properly thrown in the trash is a dream for Razorbacks fans.

It's one that likely exceeds the idea of either Clemson or Florida State coming to Fayetteville. Now it's up to the Big 12 and Big Ten to make dreams come true.

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