SEC Permanent Rivals doesn’t feel permanent

I think the SEC missed an opportunity here.

At least from Missouri’s perspective. On3 / Rivals.com’s Chris Low broke the news on the new Permanent Rivals coming to the SEC next season in Football, and his reporting has the SEC matching Missouri up against Arkansas, Oklahoma and… Texas A&M? Huh. Ok.

Of all the scenarios presented I would have put the A&M-Mizzou rivalary towards the bottom of potential matchups. I had some fun by attempting to just use history to make the matchups and it didn’t go that poorly, and then I asked ChatGPT and those results weren’t too bad either.

Everything in the world pointed to Mizzou being able to maintain their long history with Oklahoma in this setup, and they did. Of everyone in the SEC the Tigers have played Oklahoma more than anyone by a 74 game advantage. Preserving the old Big 8 matchup, even if it was a bit lopsided at times (OU leads 67-25-5), makes a lot of sense in this new age of College Football.

After Oklahoma I figured the SEC would continue to force Arkansas into this forced marriage with Missouri. I don’t see a lot of passion from either fan base for this rivalry, part of that likely comes from (virtually) zero history and with the fact that Arkansas just seems really unable to get their program on good footing. I don’t really blame Arkansas fans for being a little bitter, Mizzou joined the SEC for the 2012 Football season and it was the offseason before that when this photo was taken:

In 2011, Bobby Petrino won 11 games and the Cotton Bowl. In 2012 John Smith was fired as interim coach after going 4-8, and it’s been a lot of bad for the Hogs since. They’ve had one single 9 win season in 2021, an 8 win season in 2015. So they’ve been a bit stuck for the better part of 14 seasons. Missouri has been a bit of a yo-yo in that time, but they’ve only lost to Arkasnsas twice in 11 tries. The rivalry has been forced, but largely both fan bases seem apathetic about it. I think Hog fans would preferred Ole Miss, or even Texas A&M. Alas they’re stuck with us, and we’re stuck with them.

But this Texas A&M matchup is a big miss for me. Mizzou and A&M have played each other 17 times despite being in the same conference together for a total of 30 years (16 in the Big 12 and now 14 in the SEC). And 4 of those games came prior to these two teams being in the same Conference. A&M and Mizzou played in 1957 and 1958. Then again in 1992 and 1993. The Big 12 formed in 1996, but they only faced each other 8 times in the Big 12. And now they’ve played each other 5 times in the SEC.

There’s nothing there. You can count on one hand the number of those games that actually mattered in any real context. I can think of one game specifically, it was 2013 when it was Johnny Manziel and A&M was 8-3 coming to Columbia. Mizzou needed the win to get 1st in the SEC East and it came down to a Henry Josey sprint for a touchdown for a win.

But that game was about Missouri, not really Mizzou vs Texas A&M. I have good memories of James Franklin running over the Aggie defense in College Station in his breakout game. I recall fondly the 30-9 win there also, mostly because it was my wedding day.

But there’s nothing really between these two schools, other than they shared a conference together before the SEC.

Even Mike Elko can’t figure this out:

Again, I don’t have animosity towards A&M about this. I don’t feel one way or another about A&M at all. They’re just another school we’ve played sometimes. There are some weird things about them like the yell leaders and some of their traditions are funny and maybe a touch unsettling, but I feel like I have way more of a feeling about the teams in the (old) SEC East than I do about A&M.

South Carolina? Yes! Let’s play those guys! Kentucky? Sure, I don’t love it but there’s been some fun games. Florida? Ehhh, I don’t think Florida would love it but I’d be ok if that’s where we went. Tennessee? Sure! Drinkwitz seems to rile their fans up really well, that could be fun. Vandy? Yeah why not, Clark Lea has them on the rise and Nashville is close. And Georgia? Honestly I think Missouri has had more of a rivalry with Georgia, and not much of one other than the little brother who wants the shot at big brother, than anything with Texas A&M.

The only way I feel about this is that it doesn’t feel like the permanent rivals are all that permanent. But let’s just go play the games.