Texas A&M Football: Why Aggie fans are mad at the SEC commissioner

Last year, Texas A&M football fans got some bittersweet news in regards to the Southeastern Conference. That news revolved around Texas and Oklahoma being admitted to the SEC, a move that stirred up controversy in the state of Texas.

For lack of a better term, Texas A&M has “beef’ with Texas, as the Longhorns were given preferential treatment in the Big 12 prior to the Aggies’ eventual departure for the SEC. For a few years, A&M had some form of independence in a conference that was fair to all of its members.

The issue here is that A&M didn’t receive proper communication about the Longhorns’ move to the SEC, which could happen as soon as 2025. Nobody really knows what goes on behind the scenes, but SEC commissioner Greg Sankey recently said something that confirmed prior suspicions.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey admitted that he didn’t properly communicate with Texas A&M about Texas’s move to the SEC

This is a tricky situation for Greg Sankey, as moving Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC is clearly a big-money move. The two programs are among the highest-earning in the country, with Texas tied for first with A&M and Oklahoma taking the sixth spot.

You have to play politics to an extent, but did Sankey have a major misstep here? Here’s what Sankey admitted during a recent visit to College Station, according to Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle.

Nobody — and I mean nobody — will sit here and act like Sankey should have outright rejected Texas and Oklahoma’s move to the SEC. To act like that would be the right move would be a blatant lie. That said, why didn’t Sankey simply communicate more with A&M?

When the Aggies originally left the Big 12 nearly a decade ago, the primary issue was surrounding mistreatment by the conference. Again, we don’t know what happens behind closed doors, but it wouldn’t be unjust to assume that Texas A&M’s athletic program had a conversation with the SEC before joining to assure that they would not have a similar issue.

It’s a sensitive spot for A&M and Greg Sankey is aware of that. I’m not saying Sankey has the worst intentions ever, but there’s no chance he just “overlooked” or “forgot” to tell Texas A&M. This was a money move, one way or another.

At the very least, Sankey is able to be more transparent — hopefully, this won’t be an issue down the road.