Texas To The SEC: Time For Texas A&M To Rewrite The Script

Texas A&M will have the chance to show they are no longer little brother to Texas anymore

Resistance is futile for those against change. Texas A&M learned and accepted that prior to Thursday afternoon. 

Everything is now official for the future of the Southeastern Conference. Texas and Oklahoma will be joining after a 14-0 from the current schools to allow the programs to join. As of now, the two schools will join on July 1, 2025. 

That could be coming sooner following the fallout from the Big 12's remaining eight programs. 

"Today's unanimous vote is both a testament to the SEC's longstanding spirit of unity and mutual cooperation, as well as a recognition of the outstanding legacies of academic and athletic excellence established by the Universities of Oklahoma and Texas," said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. "I greatly appreciate the collective efforts of our Presidents and Chancellors in considering and acting upon each school's membership interest."

Podcast: Can Aggies And Longhorns Co-Exist In The SEC?

Texas A&M could have been the one vote against the grain. When it was reported last week at the two schools were wanting to join in the future, A&M athletic director Ross Bjork made it that A&M wanted to remain the lone school from the Lone Star State. 

"We love being in the SEC," Bjork told Paul Finebaum in Hoover, Ala. "We love being the only (SEC) program in the state of Texas. We’re going to maintain that position, but we’re also going to make sure that we are a leader in college athletics and we’ll see what the future holds.”

Instead, they chose the high road, inviting their in-state rival and former Big 12 foes to life on the grader side. 

Yes, the Aggies will no longer be the lone team from the state where "everything is bigger." Then again, maybe that makes perfect sense since the SEC's slogan is "it just mean more" right? 

More money, more teams, more growth in the SEC. 

Oh yeah, more chances for A&M to prove they no longer are "little brother."

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Nine years ago, the Aggies began their journey from the Big 12 to the SEC. In their first season as the new guys, Kevin Sumlin and Johnny Manziel marched into Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take down then-No. 1 Alabama, 29-24. 

That was a Big 12 team. Those were Big 12 recruits. A&M was still trying to prove they were right for leaving a conference they were never respected in. 

You paying attention Texas? 

Nine years later, this is an SEC team found in the likes of Saturdays at Kyle Field. The Aggies are coming off their best finish in SEC play at 9-1. They ranked the highest in the AP Poll since 1939 at No. 4 overall. 

More importantly, the stars are aligning for head coach Jimbo Fisher. By now, everyone can see the similarities between his time at Florida State and A&M. In both of his third seasons, Fisher won the Orange Bowl after a down second year. 

READ MORE: ‘Desperate’ Texas & OU Learn They Need Aggies’ SEC Path

The following season with the Seminoles, he won a national title. Could this be A&M's year? 

Of course, Texas still controls its own destiny. Even without a Big 12 title in over a decade, Tom Herman was able to produce four top 15 recruiting classes during his time on the Forty Acres. 

Imagine Steve Sarkisian's "All Gas, No Breaks" pitch, plus the SEC slogan on the name? This could be trouble for Texas A&M. 

That is, the A&M of the past. 

When looking back at the Aggies and Fisher, A&M has expanded past the borders of the lines they call home. States like Mississippi, Florida, New Jersey and Illinois now are Fisher's recruiting swamps. 

Don't believe it, take a look at the 2020 recruiting class. Antonio Johnson was the top recruit from Illinois. McKinley Jackson was the top name out of Mississippi. 

Fadil Diggs, Antonio Doyle, and Donnell Harris were top 10 players from New Jersey, Missouri, and Florida, respectively. 

READ MORE: Johnny Manziel On Texas Entering SEC: "Time To Just Sack Up And Go Play The Game"

Sark could set new roots, but the Aggies were there first. Is that an advantage for the A&M in recruits? A&M had finished top 10 in recruiting for the past three seasons. In 2021, they could be top three. 

The Longhorns and Aggies have not played in nearly a decade. Over the century of the two battling it out on the gridiron, UT holds a 76-37-5 advantage in the all-time series.

That was then. This is now. And the A&M team ahead is ready to show they control their own destiny in the SEC. 

That, and perhaps Texas' as well. 

READ MORE: Texas A&M And Texas Rivalry Back? Is This Good Or Bad For The Aggies?

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