Texas A&M football fans were rocked by the news that came down last night regarding the SEC's impending move to a nine-game conference schedule. The announcement included several interesting tidbits, but one of the most salient was the confirmation of the long-expected 3-6 format starting in 2026.
This led to a lot of speculation. Who will the Aggies have as their three opponents? There was some agreement among fans, but also some disagreement. Here are two teams the Aggies must keep around going forward, and one they'd be happy seeing only every once in a while.
Texas A&M and Texas must be preserved in SEC's new scheduling format
This one is a bit of a no-brainer. The Aggies and Longhorns have one of the longest-running, most historic rivalries in the entire sport, so to give out three permanent rivalry spots and not preserve this game would be malpractice on the part of the SEC.
The good news here is that this is one of the rivalries most likely to be preserved in the conference. Maybe Auburn-Alabama would rank ahead in a fantasy draft of historic rivalries among conference teams, but this one wouldn't be far behind.
Texas A&M fans want to keep LSU on the schedule
Despite the one-sidedness under Kevin Sumlin, this has turned into one of the most entertaining and back-and-forth games in the SEC since 2018. We got one of the best games in college football history with 2018's seven-overtime thriller, and last year's comeback with Marcel Reed coming in to lead the Ags to victory was nothing if not hugely exciting.
There have been frustrating moments, to be sure— the uncalled offsides in 2014, the uncalled fumble recovery in 2021— but this is a game that I think both fanbases want to keep around. This is one I'm a little less sure about, given that the Tigers have rivalries like Ole Miss, Alabama, and Florida they would want to preserve, but some games will have to be sacrificed in this format.
Texas A&M can do without Missouri on the schedule
Though the Aggies and Tigers came into the conference at the same time, and have played each other a lot since that time, there's really no juice here. Texas A&M has matched up with Missouri and Florida five times each since joining the SEC, the most of any teams in what was the eastern division (save South Carolina), but no rivalry has really developed here.
The Aggie faithful want to keep rivalries like Texas and LSU, but adding Missouri all of a sudden makes this feel much less like a real SEC schedule since they're such new blood to the conference. They're the odd man out in a few ways, and it doesn't really make sense to pair these two up.