My, how expectations can change.

We all knew that when the SEC added 2 more cross-division games, Texas A&M would be among the hardest teams hit. After all, the Aggies’ original SEC East opponents for 2020, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, are among the least feared in that division.

So Aggieland held its breath and hoped for the best while waiting to see which SEC East teams would be added. Balance out, it did. The Aggies added games against Florida, a team many foresee continuing its ascent to the top of the division this season under head coach Dan Mullen, and Tennessee.

Monday night, we filled in the rest of the blanks. We knew the who, now we know the when and where.

Overall, the Aggies’ new 10-game, SEC-only schedule is perhaps not as daunting what Arkansas (added Georgia, Florida), or Missouri (added Alabama, LSU) must endure, but the Aggies’ revised schedule certainly has evened things out. As it stood, prior to the Pandemic and the reshuffling of the 2020 slate, Texas A&M appeared to have a relative cakewalk to a late November back-to-back with Alabama and LSU that seemingly would have decided the SEC West.

No longer.

The Aggies’ first 3 games are as challenging as anybody’s in the league and certainly the most challenging among the contenders to reach Atlanta.

After opening with Vanderbilt, the Aggies travel to Alabama and host Florida in back-to-back weeks.

There is a chance, obviously, that they enter Week 4 with a 1-2 record.

Aggies fans would be thrilled with a 2-1 start — which would require upsetting a contender — especially considering only 1 of the next 5 opponents won more than 6 games last season and 3 of the 5 have new coaches. Only Tennessee, one of the additions, seems to be a challenge, and that will come in Week 8 in Knoxville.

The addition of Florida and Tennessee will certainly test a veteran Aggies squad and head coach Jimbo Fisher will have to do one of his better jobs of coaching if he is to navigate Texas A&M through what is now a much more challenging schedule.

The difficulty factor has been raised significantly.

How will that impact perception? We’ll soon find out. The Aggies were being mentioned as a possible top 10 team throughout much of the offseason. They’re not supposed to, but if voters look ahead and project a 1-2 start, will the Aggies start that high when the AP poll is revealed Aug. 24?

It’s not just the addition of those 2 teams that potentially make the 2020 schedule far more difficult, but also the order in which the games are to be played. We already mentioned the opening gauntlet, but the end isn’t exactly easy.

The Aggies close with LSU and Auburn. Will they still be in the race or reduced to a spoiler role? Time will tell.

We knew a week ago that adding Florida and Tennessee greatly elevated the Aggies’ strength of schedule and you would have to say that their chances of a potential conference and Playoff appearance have taken a big hit by it.

We only thought the Aggies were finally catching a break in scheduling. No more Clemson. Georgia was not on the slate this season, as it was in 2019. Four cupcakes to help the Aggies prepare for the gauntlet that is the SEC.

It’s a different story now. The cupcakes have been taken off the table. Georgia was replaced with Florida; a veritable wash. And add Tennessee to the mix, and the Aggies are back to the same old story. A very good season could still end up with just 7 wins.