It’s all but wrapped and sealed that Texas A&M will be in the SEC next year. It’ll be a new look for the Aggies, whose identity has long been associated with it’s rivals in the state of Texas and Oklahoma.
But the good ol’ A&M we’ve come to expect showed up in similar fashion in a 30-29 loss to No. 7 Oklahoma State, in which the No. 8 Aggies blew a 17-point halftime lead and scored only once (Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon intentionally ran out of the end zone for a safety as time expired) in the second half.
In fact, A&M hasn’t won a Big 12 opener since 2007 when they defeated Baylor. Those four consecutive conference opener losses since then? All to Oklahoma State.
Speaking of the Pokes, Mike Gundy‘s team just took a huge step toward what many still believe could be a BCS title-implicating game against in-state rival and top-ranked Oklahoma. As you’ll recall from our preseason conference projections -- or, guesses, really -- a certain numbskull on this site thought the Aggies posed the biggest threat to knocking the Sooners off the top of the Big 12 hill.
While that’s still entirely possible -- there’s a lot of football left in the season -- Oklahoma State secured a statement win on the road in a tough environment against a fellow AP top-10 team. If the Cowboys can get through a wicked October that includes consecutive road games at Texas and Missouri followed by a home game against Baylor, they’ll have a great shot of getting the Sooners right where they want ‘em -- at home for the second straight year.
(As an addition, I’d like to extend our continued thoughts to the OSU community and co-defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer, who lost his wife, Angela, last weekend due to heart complications. What an emotional week it must have been for Spencer, and while there’s no win in the world that can ever take away from his loss, it was great to see him smiling on the sidelines after the game.)
