In the ever-shifting landscape of college football, it's hard to count anything as set in stone, as rules, conference affiliations, and more change all the time. That said, there are still some moves that draw a lot of eyes— and questions— as to the health of the future of the sport, not to mention the intentions of the perpetrating program.
One such move was just quietly made by the Aggies' chief rival, the Texas Longhorns, as they moved to cancel a future home and home series in their attempts to lighten their schedule moving forward. Texas showed early on last season that they were not a playoff-caliber team with their loss to Ohio State, but Longhorn fans late in the year wished that Texas had scheduled a Kennesaw State or a Western Michigan so that they could have masked that reality.
That in mind, it's not particularly surprising that the Longhorns are choosing to flee from the Arizona State Sun Devils, canceling their previously-agreed-upon series that had been set for the 2032 and 2033 seasons. They clearly hoped to do this surreptitiously, as the most embarrassing part of this for them is that the Aggies are facing off with ASU over the next two years, clearly unafraid of this challenge even with the 9-game SEC schedule.
Texas demonstrates rank cowardice with cancellation of Arizona State series, who Aggies are set to play over the next two years
For those Texas fans who object, saying that the Longhorns' games against Ohio State and Michigan prove that this is not an accurate accounting of events, the response is simple: it's pretty clear that the bigger brand is calling the shots. Ohio State and Michigan can tell Texas what to do; ASU can't.
The Longhorns will still be forced by SEC policy to schedule a game with a Power 4 team, but look for this one to be replaced with the likes of Purdue or Stanford— some school that Texas feels like they can beat soundly. They didn't have that confidence with ASU and Kenny Dillingham, clearly enough.
This is actually something of a savvy move by the Longhorns, all things considered: the CFP Selection Committee did a very poor job of prioritizing strength of record this past season, so they hope to squeak by with some low-caliber competition and a high win total. In the end, all people will remember is whether or not they got to the big dance; everyone, that is, except Aggie fans, who will no doubt remember well that the Longhorns ran from the competition A&M faced head-on.