Paul Finebaum Reveals Texas A&M's Pivotal Role In Texas Longhorns Joining SEC

The Texas Longhorns are set to officially join the SEC this summer, where they will re-unite and rekindle their long-standing and bitter rivalry with the Texas A&M Aggies.

The move, which helped kick off the massive shift in college football realignment, infuriated Aggie fans and alumni alike, leaving them with a feeling of betrayal after the SEC had allegedly promised them that the Longhorns would never join the conference.

After all, according to most accounts, the Aggies had left Texas and the Big 12 in order to establish their own identity.

"We want to be the only SEC program in the state of Texas," former Texas A&M AD Ross Bjork said when rumors of Texas joining the SEC began to swirl. "There's a reason why Texas A&M left the Big 12 -- to be standalone, to have our own identity.

Of course, the Longhorns eventually won that battle, and will officially transition from the Big 12 to the SEC on July 1.

However, according to college football pundit Paul Finebaum, it may actually be Texas A&M that is ultimately responsible for the Longhorns joining the conference.

“They were promised Texas would never come in, but things change. It’s A&M’s fault,” Finebaum said on That SEC Podcast. “A&M was so successful in the SEC that Texas said, ‘We want some of that!’"

With all due respect to Finebaum, this is quite a murky take. Obviously, if he is speaking in terms of financials and growth, then yes - the sky is the limit for the Longhorns' money potential in the SEC.

But if he is speaking in terms of on-the-field performance, the argument doesn't really hold too much water.

In theory, it would make sense had the Aggies become an SEC power. But since joining the conference officially in 2012, the Aggies have averaged 8 wins per season. Meanwhile, Texas has averaged 7.5. The Aggies only won six bowls to Texas' five.

Likewise, over that time, Texas has won 10 games twice (2023 and 2018), while the Aggies did it just once (2012). They also played in Won a Big 12 title, played for another, and made the College Football Playoff. Not to mention, the Longhorns are primed to contend for the SEC title in 2024. Texas A&M, meanwhile, has done none of the above.

So, if anything, on the field success is a wash, with Texas having a slight edge.

Instead, Finebaum must be referring to the financial success the Aggies have experienced over the last decade and change. Even then, however, given the SEC's limitless potential in terms of financial earnings and growth, the Longhorns' ultimate desire to join the conference would also have held true regardless of whether the Aggies were already in it or not.

After all, according to Finebaum, the Longhorns had other options, with the Big Ten and ACC also attempting to recruit them once it became clear that their time in the Big 12 was coming to a close.

“They finally realized that we need to do something," Finebaum said. "Texas could’ve gone to the Big Ten, ACC, all this nonsense that we heard. The SEC did nothing but answer the same phone call that everybody else got. They were on the prowl to leave and were going to go somewhere.”

One way or another, and whether Texas or Texas A&M like it or not, both schools are now once again linked and will be a part of one of the fiercest rivalries in the country - exactly how it should be.

So, does it really matter whose 'fault' it is?