One of the biggest tragedies of college football today is the discontinuation of several historic annual rivalries between former conference opponents. Like, say, Texas A&M vs. Texas. Apparently, the higher-ups at Texas A&M aren't too torn up about the hiatus. According to a report from the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday, Aggies athletic director Scott Woodward earlier this year received an offer from Longhorns AD Chris Del Conte for a home-and-home series in 2022-23. It would have been the first time they would have played since 2011, the year before Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC. Woodward told Del Conte no. WHAT TO WATCH: TEXAS | A&M “We were already booked,” Woodward told the Chronicle. “We’re booked 10 years out. He had an opening at the time, and it suited (Del Conte), but it didn’t suit us.” Texas ended up going with a home-and-home against Alabama. A&M will play a home-and-home series those two seasons against Miami (Fla). Del Conte confirmed the phone conversation in an interview with SportsDay. He said he reached out to Woodward after Ohio State — which had scheduled the Longhorns for 2022-23 — wanted to move their series to 2025-26 so the Buckeyes could play Notre Dame first. So Del Conte reached out to A&M to see if it had an opening. "They did not," Del Conte told SportsDay. "No sweat off of my back. Fortunately Alabama did have openings in those two years." Still, Woodward's decision not to move Miami to make room for Texas isn't necessarily deviant from A&M's past stance on the rivalry. Texas A&M chancellor John Sharp in 2017 said he'd like to renew it someday, but emphasized the Aggies' tough SEC schedule as a reason why it wouldn't work at the time. MORE: SN'S preseason top 25 Woodward echoed those sentiments in his discussions with the Chronicle. “We have a hell of a home schedule,” Woodward said. “You have Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State rolling in here every other year, and Arkansas in Dallas every year. That’s a pretty darn good schedule. And as brutal and hard as our schedule is in the SEC West … it’s definitely the toughest division in football. That’s proven year in and year out. “You look at where national championships come from, and the caliber of play, and you see it every week. It’s hard on a team, and it’s a pounding. So you have to be careful how you schedule your nonconference games.” So apart from that rugged SEC schedule, who will the Aggies play in nonconference play over the next several years? A high-profile home-and-home with Clemson takes precedent in 2018-19. From there, according to FBSchedules, A&M will play home-and-homes against Colorado (2020-21), Miami (2022-23), Notre Dame (2024-25) and Arizona State (2026-27). For what it's worth, the Longhorns won that last meeting in 2011, winning 27-25 to give them a 76-37-5 advantage over the Aggies. And while Woodward's decision won't count on the board for either team, it's definitely a loss for both Longhorns and Aggies.<doc-sep>It doesn't sound like the Texas and Texas A&M football rivalry game will be returning anytime soon. Earlier this year, first-year Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte reached out to his counterpart east of Austin in College Station to gauge his interest of potentially bringing back a Texas-Texas A&M rivalry. At the time of contact, Del Conte sought to fill the Longhorns' 2022 and 2023 non-conference opening after Ohio State AD Gene Smith requested to move the Longhorns and Buckeyes future scheduling to the 2025 and 2026 football season. The Aggies declined Del Conte's offer. Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward admitted he turned down Del Conte's offer to play the Longhorns in a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle, where Woodward pointed to the Aggies' packed future of non-conference games as a reason for declining the Longhorns' offer, in addition to the tough conference schedule Texas A&M plays in the SEC West as his reason. “We were already booked,” Woodward said this week, according to the Houston Chronicle. “We’re booked 10 years out. He had an opening at the time, and it suited him, but it didn’t suit us.” "We have a hell of a home schedule,” Woodward said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “You have Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State rolling in here every other year, and Arkansas in Dallas every year. That’s a pretty darn good schedule. And as brutal and hard as our schedule is in the SEC West … it’s definitely the toughest division in football. That’s proven year in and year out. “You look at where national championships come from, and the caliber of play, and you see it every week. It’s hard on a team, and it’s a pounding. So you have to be careful how you schedule your non-conference games.” What's next for the Texas Longhorns? Make sure you stay in the loop by signing up for a FREE seven-day trial to Horns247 now! While Texas A&M has non-conference games scheduled through 2027, it is quite common for teams to change their future schedules (i.e. as Texas did to help accommodate Ohio State's request), especially if given the chance to add a big-time college football program to the calendar. But the Aggies' AD's response to Del Conte's offer makes it difficult to expect a Texas vs. Texas A&M football game any time soon. “With the right circumstances at the right time, but not right now,” Woodward said. “We already have some very good home-and-away nonconference games for our fans. It’s something coach (Jimbo) Fisher and I will talk about and consider, but it has to be at the right time and the right opportunity, when it works for both (schools).” The Texas-Texas A&M rivalry came to a conclusion when the Aggies bolted from the Big 12 for the SEC after the 2011-2012 school year. The Longhorns hold a 76-37-5 all-time record against the Aggies, including the thrilling 27-25 victory in the final game of the 118-year rivalry.<doc-sep>
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward received a call from his counterpart at Texas, Chris Del Conte, earlier this year with an offer: Would the Aggies like to play a home-and-home football series in 2022-23? Woodward told Del Conte no thanks. “We were already booked,” Woodward said this week in an extended visit with the Houston Chronicle. “We’re booked 10 years out. He had an opening at the time, and it suited him, but it didn’t suit us.” UT ultimately filled the openings with Alabama. Anyone who follows college football knows bookings can be and have been reshuffled or dropped altogether, so there’s more at play than simply filling schedules far in advance and then standing pat. If a big-time program wants to make a game happen, it can make it happen. In this case, I wouldn’t expect the return of A&M-UT anytime soon, and here’s why: The Aggies don’t believe they need the old rivalry renewed, in playing in the division that’s won seven of the last 12 national titles, and in a conference that’s won nine of the last 12 national titles. “We have a hell of a home schedule,” Woodward explained. “You have Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State rolling in here every other year, and Arkansas in Dallas every year. That’s a pretty darn good schedule. And as brutal and hard as our schedule is in the SEC West … it’s definitely the toughest division in football. That’s proven year in and year out. “You look at where national championships come from, and the caliber of play, and you see it every week. It’s hard on a team, and it’s a pounding. So you have to be careful how you schedule your nonconference games.” That said, Woodward added, he’s proud of A&M’s upcoming nonconference schedule that includes Clemson (on Sept. 8 at Kyle Field), Colorado, Notre Dame, Miami and Arizona State. As for once again playing the Longhorns in the regular season, for the first time since 2011 and just prior to A&M exiting the Big 12 for the SEC? “With the right circumstances at the right time, but not right now,” Woodward said. “We already have some very good home-and-away nonconference games for our fans. It’s something coach (Jimbo) Fisher and I will talk about and consider, but it has to be at the right time and the right opportunity, when it works for both (schools).” The teams met on 118 occasions starting in 1894 and as members of two leagues – the Southwest Conference and the Big 12 – with the Longhorns holding a 76-37-5 advantage.