The war of words in college football scheduling continues, and this time it’s from South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier.
Speaking to the Columbia Touchdown Club, Spurrier didn’t mince words when he described the Aggies scheduling since joining the SEC.
“They haven’t played the bigger teams so their schedule has been a little misleading,” Spurrier said.
He’s referring to their non-conference schedule of late, which has been lackluster. In 2012, Texas A&M hosted South Carolina State and Sam Houston State and traveled to Louisiana Tech and SMU.
Then in 2013, the Aggies played Rice, Sam Houston State, SMU, and UTEP, all at Kyle Field. Those four opponents, Spurrier scoffed, are “barely Division I.”
This season, Texas A&M is set to host Lamar, Rice, and ULM and travel to SMU.
But Texas A&M was in a slight scheduling pickle when they left the Big 12, which only played three non-conference games per season. The Aggies had to scramble to add a fourth opponent and with that late of notice, most of the top tier opponents were booked.
The Aggies’ non-conference strength of schedule is also hurt by them not playing their biggest in-state rival, the Texas Longhorns. Spurrier noted that at SEC Media Days, saying “it’s a shame Texas and Texas A&M don’t play.”
Spurrier again referenced the dormant Texas-Texas A&M rivalry.
“I find it interesting that they quit playing Texas,” Spurrier said. “They played Texas 115 years like we have played Clemson and then they left that Big 12 conference and both schools got mad at each other and said, ‘We aren’t going to play you anymore.’ It would be like us and Clemson saying we are not playing anymore. Our whole state would go crazy. The governor would get involved in that.”
Steve Spurrier is not the only coach that has taken a jab at Texas A&M’s schedule. Last month at the ESPN Car Wash, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops weighed in.
“They have Lamar, Rice, SMU and Louisiana-Monroe,” Stoops said. “Boy, those are all a bunch of toughies, right?”
Asked about those comments, A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin offered up a perfect response.
“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.”
Sumlin would probably say the same thing in reference to Spurrier’s comments, but they’ll actually get to settle it on the field annually. A&M and South Carolina are now permanent cross-division rivals, and they open the 2014 season on Aug. 28 in Columbia (6pm ET, SEC Network).
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