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SEC did Texas A&M absolutely zero favors with ridiculous Tennessee game time

This was a complete miss by the people responsible for assigning game times, and it will end up costing the fans.
ByGraham Harmon
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Sep 19, 2026; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko speaks with a member of his coaching staff during a time-out in the fourth quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
Sep 19, 2026; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko speaks with a member of his coaching staff during a time-out in the fourth quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Texas A&M may have not had an amazing year so far in 2026, but the SEC's designation for their game time against Tennessee is a complete slap in the face. The Aggies have already had to abide a schedule that is extremely inimical to fan enjoyment, as Billy Liucci pointed out today— the Aggies will have been away from Kyle Field for nearly a month before returning to play Tennessee, and they had to play an extremely hot game two against Arizona State at noon— and this is the latest slight.

The Aggies have had the Tennessee game picked as their now-annual "Operation Blackout" game since the preseason, as it and the Arkansas game were the two most likely to be at night. At that point, Tennessee figured to be the tougher opponent, which has indeed been the case, so A&M anticipated this being a later kick.

However, the SEC released their designations for November 14's game times, and the Aggies have been handed an extremely raw deal. Texas A&M and Tennessee are set to kick at either 3 PM ET on ESPN, or at 4:15 PM ET on SEC Network, depending on the outcome of November 7's games.

Texas A&M gets a raw deal for Tennessee kickoff time thanks to TV incompetence

Again, this is not a complaint based upon the idea that the Aggies have themselves earned a better slot than this and the conference is disrespecting some achievement. It's a contextual complaint: given the slate of games and time slots available, the conference could have easily made this happen— they just didn't.

Look at the game currently occupying the late slot on the SEC Network. South Carolina-Arkansas is not exactly going to be a ratings bonanza, so there's no real argument to be giving it a better slot than the Aggies' game against Tennessee. Even though the Gamecocks will likely have beaten both the Aggies and Volunteers by that point, both A&M and Tennessee have already beaten Arkansas; the result of SC's trip to Fayetteville will be all but a foregone conclusion.

It appears that the decision tree probably went like this: Texas and LSU got the late ABC slot, and then Kentucky and Florida got the late ESPN slot. Tennessee and A&M, then, could have been enough of a ratings draw that they may be a main-channel ESPN game, but if Ole Miss and OU both win this weekend (over UGA and Florida, respectively), then they should get that afternoon ESPN slot.

To preserve the possibility of A&M/Tennessee being an ESPN game, then, the execs optioned it for an afternoon kick rather than slot them firmly for the late SEC Network game— thereby causing the Aggies' Blackout game to completely fall on its face.

Even in Standard Time, if the Aggies kick off at 2 PM CT, the game will likely be over before dark. There's at least a chance of a late third-quarter sunset with the 3:15 kickoff, but it's no guarantee at all— this simply should have been a late kick. This was a swing and a miss by the TV executives, and it is going to come at the cost of the fans once again.

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