What Texas and OU Joining the SEC in 2024 Means For Texas A&M

Per Ross Dellenger of SI, some news broke yesterday that was of particular interest for Texas A&M fans: Texas and Oklahoma have finally reached an agreement for an early exit from the Big 12 and will be landing in the SEC in the fall of 2024.

With this path cleared for an early exit (as many expected it eventually would be), the 2024 season will mark seismic changes in the college football landscape, with USC/UCLA moving to the Big 10, Texas and OU joining the SEC, and the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams.

So what does this mean for Texas A&M? The resumption of this regional rivalry has been anticipated ever since the news first came out that Texas and OU were jumping ship on the Big 12 for the premier conference in collegiate athletics. The anticipation hasn’t exactly been positive on everyone’s part—many Aggies preferred to let the Longhorns rot in a mediocre conference, and many Longhorns didn’t exactly treasure the thought of having to face on a yearly basis a Texas A&M program much-improved from its standing in the 2000s—but college football fans of all stripes, including maroon and burnt orange, can’t wait for the first time these two kick off against each other.

It’s not just the gridiron that will be the site of hotly-anticipated matchups between these two, either, but the court and the diamond as well. Though the Aggies and Longhorns have met several times in both basketball and baseball since A&M left for the SEC (and continue to do so in the latter), having regularly scheduled matchups as part of a conference slate will ensure the flame of rivalry doesn’t wane on this front either.

Back on the note of football, however, it has already been well-reported that the first matchup between these two will take place at Kyle Field—likely on or directly after Thanksgiving. Now that the date of the move has been accelerated, the Longhorns will have the pleasure of facing off against A&M’s loaded 2022 recruiting class in their 3rd year, before several of them doubtless make the early jump to the NFL draft. This gives the Aggies a distinct advantage in this first important matchup that will set the tone for the next few years.

With the scheduling model still up in the air, it seems less likely that A&M will see the Oklahoma Sooners as often as they will the Longhorns, but there’s still enough bad blood between the two schools to make any matchup interesting.

We here at Gig Em Gazette will continue to cover this story as it develops, so keep checking back in as we cover the different angles of this move.