Steve Sarkisian excited for Texas-Texas A&M rivalry being reignited in the SEC

Both Texas and Oklahoma are gaining a lot with their arrivals in the Southeastern Conference. For the Longhorns, that obviously includes a rivalry renewed with Texas A&M as the two will play for the first time in a dozen years.

Steve Sarkisian spoke about that matchup and its history with the Aggies during his first appearance at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin. He expressed his and their anticipation to reconnect with them, along with another in Arkansas as well, this fall after aligning themselves with the SEC.

“Yeah, I’m excited,” said Sarkisian at his press conference. “I’ll be honest with you. You know, I’ve been part of some great rivalries in college football. I know there was so much talk about realignment and I know realignment looks different for every school. But, for us, we gained two rivals back, right. We’re playing Arkansas again, which is great for Texas Longhorn Nation. We get A&M back.”

“The game with A&M? You’re talking about houses divided. You’re talking about decades of tremendous games, Thanksgiving weekend,” Sarkisian said. “To get that game back, I know we’re looking forward to it. I know, I’m sure that A&M is too.”

Sarkisian also used that as an opportunity to share his regards for the Aggies’ new head coach in Mike Elko. The two of them only add to the contention considering that they’ve crossed paths before on opposing sidelines within the conference before.

“I’ve got a ton of respect for Coach Elko,” said Sarkisian. “We competed against one another when we was a defensive coordinator at A&M and I was an offensive coordinator at Alabama. He has got really good schemes, really good players.”

“I think he’s going to do a really good job there,” Sarkisian said.

Texas vs. Texas A&M goes all the way back to 1894 and throughout the 1900s as members of the Southwest Conference. That then continued into the Big 12 before Texas A&M left for the SEC in 2012. With that, the two programs haven’t met since November 24th, 2011 in what was a 27-25 victory for the Longhorns. That outcome came off a game-winning field goal from Justin Tucker as time expired in College Station. That final 40-yard kick extended the all-time lead for Texas over Texas A&M to 76-37-5.

Now, in 2024, the Longhorns and Aggies will reunite again in their season finales on November 30th. They will play at Kyle Field this year before the series returns to Austin in 2025.

Conference realignment took plenty from several programs and conferences across the country. However, in the case of The Lonestar State, it brought back something that Texas and Texas A&M have missed for over a decade, which should make it all the more captivating when the two kick off against one another as opponents again later this year.