A Rivalry Renewed? ESPN Projects Aggies vs. Longhorns In All-State Sugar Bowl

Could the Longhorns and Aggies be facing off sooner than we think?

Matt Galatzan | Sep 7, 2021

Following a wild start to the 2021 college football season, ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura released their weekly bowl projections for every one of the FBS's 44 bowl matchups.

In their preseason projections at the end of August, both writers had the Aggies finishing with high marks.

Schlabach placed the Aggies in an All-State Sugar Bowl matchup against Iowa State, while Bonagura projected the Aggies to take the field against the USC Trojans in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl.

However, after the results from the weekend became final, ESPN's projections changed ever-so-slightly.

While Bonagura's forecast of Iowa State and Texas A&M's Sugar Bowl date remained the same, Schlabach's did not... seemingly placing the Aggies on a collision course with their former Big 12, and future SEC arch-rivals, the Texas Longhorns.

Here is what Schlabach had to say of his projection:

Oklahoma and Texas officials say they're not joining the SEC until after their current TV rights deals expire with the Big 12 in June 2025. But Texas A&M fans might not have to wait that long to face their in-state rivals again. The Longhorns were pretty impressive in coach Steve Sarkisian's debut and looked like one of the better teams in the Big 12. If Oklahoma were to make the CFP, and the SEC were to get two teams in with Alabama and Georgia, it wouldn't be too far of a stretch for Texas and Texas A&M to meet in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

While the Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners are not projected to join the SEC until 2025, many thought that the two teams could their debuts as soon as 2022.

But if Schlabach's predictions come into fruition, Longhorns and Aggies fans very well could see a 2021 version of the Lonestar Showdown in New Orleans on New Year's Day.

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Published Sep 7, 2021

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.