The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas A&M Aggies have met on the gridiron 31 times overall, including every season from 1996 through 2011.
But when Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC, their annual contest ended. The two did meet up in the 2013 Cotton Bowl, where A&M’s Johnny Manziel torched the Sooner defense with 516 total yards and four touchdowns en route to a 41-13 blowout win.
Since Oklahoma and Texas A&M are no longer in the same conference, they could be competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff in the near future.
With the playoff in mind, coaches have been talking scheduling more than usual, either bragging about their own tough slate or pointing out weaker schedules of others.
This week during the ESPN Car Wash, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops took the opportunity to take a jab at Texas A&M’s non-conference schedule this season, which includes Lamar, Rice, SMU and ULM.
“Boy, that’s a bunch of toughies,” Stoops said.
Stoops is correct, as those four teams combined have an average 2013 Sagarin ranking of 121.25 (Rice had the highest at 69). We also ranked Texas A&M’s 2014 non-conference schedule 12th out of 14 teams.
But according to the Sagarin ratings, Oklahoma’s 2014 non-conference schedule is only slightly better. The Sooners host Louisiana Tech and Tennessee and travel to Tulsa. The average 2013 Sagarin rating of those three? 119.3.
Texas A&M does have a very difficult SEC slate in 2014. The Aggies open at South Carolina and later travel to both Alabama and Auburn. That’s three possible Top 10 opponents on the road. A&M also hosts Ole Miss, Missouri, and LSU.
As far as the comparison between Oklahoma and Texas A&M’s full schedule, Phil Steele ranks the Aggies schedule 12th in the country and the Sooners schedule 49th.
Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin was asked about the comments by Bob Stoops at the Houston A&M Club Coach’s Night on Friday. Sumlin handled the question well.
“Coach Stoops has the right to say whatever he wants,” said Sumlin. “But if he’d like to play again we’d take him up on that.”
Hopefully Bob Stoops accepts Sumlin’s offer. The fans would love to see that, as well as Texas A&M’s other dormant rivalry game — Texas.
Football Schedules