‘It Is What It Is’: Mike Elko Reacts to Texas A&M’s New Annual Opponents

The new format requires all 16 SEC teams to play three annual opponents while rotating through the remaining 12 programs over a six-year cycle. The nine-game slate will be a 3-6-6 scheduling format, calling for all 16 SEC teams to play three annual opponents focused on maintaining traditional rivalries while the remaining six games will rotate among the other 12 programs.

Missouri is a different story from Texas and LSU. The Tigers entered the SEC with Texas A&M, but their relationship doesn’t come as naturally as do the classic rivalries which dictated the conference’s scheduling patterns.

While the Iron Bowl remained in Alabama and Auburn’s hands, and Florida stayed with Georgia for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, what the Aggies were left with was what appears to be an equation rather than a good matchup.

Elko Riles Against Reason Behind Missouri Matchup Selection Process

While most of the schools had reasonable options for their own annual games, Missouri is perhaps the standout in A&M’s list, the scheduling move serves to illustrate the complex mathematics involved with setting up competitive balance throughout a 16-team league while seeking to maintain regional and traditional ties.

Two of them make perfect sense in Elko’s head. The third one. not really. The coach’s opinion is indicative of wider concerns with how the SEC went about these permanent series.

Missouri, there isn’t the geographic nearness or the shared history that usually characterizes the rivalries of college football. There isn’t much similarity between the Aggies and the Tigers except that they came into the SEC at the same time as part of the conference’s first wave of expansion. They both departed the Big 12 but took very different paths in terms of conference strength and cultural integration.

Missouri has not had a big conference yearly rival since becoming a member of the conference, having moved back and forth between various divisional alignment and schedule arrangements. The Tigers clashed with Arkansas in recent years, but that series never became as hot as traditional SEC rivalries.

Elko’s response suggests his program will approach the challenge professionally, regardless of the scheduling logic behind the decision. The Aggies enter this new era with momentum from their strong conference start and the successful return of the Texas rivalry, positioning themselves to make the most of whatever opponents the SEC provides.