If you thought the new scheduling policy adopted by the SEC was groundbreaking or innovative, think again. Texas Athletics Director Steve Patterson certainly was not impressed with the bold new direction fo the SEC.
The SEC’s new scheduling policy will keep an eight-game conference schedule with protected crossover games between divisions and require all SEC members to schedule at least one game against an opponent from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten or Pac-12. It has not been received well at LSU, where AD Joe Alleva and head coach Les Miles have voiced their frustrations. Patterson’s reaction?Consider Steve Patterson unimpressed by the SEC’s new football scheduling mandate: “Everyone else already does that.”
— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) April 28, 2014
Patterson has said before, numerous times, the possibility of reuniting with Texas A&M on the football field is not likely to happen anytime soon. The new scheduling policy for the Aggies and the rest of the SEC could have opened the door for Texas to lock horns with its historical rival, but Patterson is not entertaining the idea.
Texas will play UCLA in Arlington, Texas this upcoming season. The Longhorns also have games against schools from the other power conferences in 2015 (California), 2016 (at California), 2017 (Maryland, at USC), 2018 (at Maryland, USC), 2021 (at Arkansas), 2022 (Ohio State) and 2023 (at Ohio State). Texas also has games scheduled with Notre Dame in a four-game series played over five years between 2015 and 2020.
The bottom line is Texas will not be likely to have any room to accommodate a game against Texas A&M even if there was an interest in doing so from either side.