Hayes: No Georgia at Texas A&M? Why? Break out the conspiracy theories
By Matt Hayes
Published:
There is no lottery system. There is no secret code.
Really, there isn’t.
The SEC says there’s a formula, and it simply hasn’t rotated to Georgia playing at Texas A&M since the Aggies joined the conference in 2012 — despite the fact that every other league team has made the trip to College Station.
“I’ve given up trying to figure it out,” an SEC coach texted me Tuesday night. “We played through a pandemic. We can’t get Georgia at Texas A&M?”
SEC publicist Herb Vincent said there were 2 “bridge” years when Texas A&M and Missouri joined the league, so the current opposite division, non-permanent rotation didn’t technically begin until 2014.
The current SEC schedule includes 6 division games, and 1 permanent and 1 rotating crossover division game. The rotating crossover games are on a specific rotation, Vincent said.
“There are a number of games that haven’t been played yet since 2014,” Vincent said. “But there seems to be more focus on Georgia at Texas A&M.”
So there’s your official explanation. Now it’s time dig deep.
Cue the conspiracy music and plop that tinfoil hat on your head. Here. We. Go.
While I’m sure the official explanation is buttoned-up, I’m not sure that sits well at Florida, which played at Texas A&M in 2012 and 2020, and will visit College Station again in November. It will be the Gators’ 4th game against the Aggies, including a game in Gainesville in 2017.
Georgia, meanwhile, has played Texas A&M once (2019) since the Aggies joined the conference. In Athens.
The SEC response to that is straightforward: Florida’s 2012 game was during the “bridge” seasons so it doesn’t count. The 2020 game was during the COVID season, so it doesn’t count, either. This year’s game at College Station is the official rotation.
The obvious question: Why didn’t Georgia play in College Station in 2012-13, or during the COVID season?
Anyone else a little confused?
Good, because now we’re going deeper down the rabbit hole. Only this conspiracy doesn’t date all the way back to 2012.
This one began last week.
Not only does it make zero sense that Georgia hasn’t played at Texas A&M despite 3 clear opportunities (2012-13, 2020) outside the rotation, it also makes zero sense that the SEC wouldn’t want to specifically showcase such a game.
Or — hello, red flag — why the SEC’s media partners, CBS and ESPN, wouldn’t specifically ask for that game in any year, but certainly in 2023. The next step is so rich, it’s devilishly devious to even mention it.
Under Conspiracy Theory, No. 2, the SEC — in a gloriously petty move — avoided Georgia at Texas A&M in 2023 because it didn’t want to give CBS a mega ratings game in CBS’ last year as the majority media rights holder.
If this sounds familiar, let me take you back to last week, when the SEC directed Tennessee and Georgia to postpone their upcoming nonconference series with Oklahoma, because “the transition of Oklahoma into the SEC will not allow for the involved institutions to fulfill their respective contractural nonconference home-and-home appearance obligations.”
That sounds well and good — just like the “rotation” explanation for Georgia and Texas A&M — but consider this conspiracy: the Alabama at Texas nonconference game earlier this month on Fox drew such a monster number (10.6 million viewers), the SEC didn’t want Fox to get another mega game at the SEC’s expense when Georgia traveled to Oklahoma in 2023.
Conspiracy theorists claim those nonconference deals were made before OU and Texas decided to join the SEC, so the SEC knew from Day 1 when they accepted Texas and OU into the fold that those nonconference games would have to go.
So why announce it now? Why not announce it the day Texas and OU were officially invited?
Why, you ask? Because college football is expanding and aligning before our very eyes. It’s the SEC/ESPN vs. the Big Ten/Fox/CBS/NBC — and they’re fighting for every last viewer.
You think the SEC is just going to gift Fox a game with what could be 2-time defending national champion Georgia? Or gift CBS the hype-filled and much anticipated Georgia at Texas A&M game?
Not on your life.
“That’s a great theory,” an industry source said. “Would it surprise me? Not really. Would I blame either (the SEC or Big Ten) if they did that? Never. This is bare-knuckle fighting now.”
This is bigger than Georgia traveling to College Station, everyone. This is about protecting games and building brands and not inadvertently helping your rival do the same.
Besides, if the expanded Playoff doesn’t happen in 2024 and Texas and Oklahoma don’t leave the Big 12 early as part of the deal, that opposite division rotation will magically turn to — tada! — Georgia at Texas A&M.
Just in time for ESPN’s first season as the exclusive media rights holder of the SEC.
There’s no secret code to that.
Matt Hayes is a national college football writer for Saturday Down South. You can hear him daily from 12-3 p.m. on 1010XL in Jacksonville. Follow on Twitter @MattHayesCFB
