…….for A&M and the SEC.

Their move did open up the borders for other SEC schools to infiltrate the Lone Star State.

The big difference was for A&M; the SEC was already big, fat, rich, and powerful. But, the SEC became even bigger, fatter, richer, and more powerful.

From a subscriber-only sports website, here are some tidbits about all this....

********

* From 2008-2012, just less than 10% of recruits in Texas signed with SEC schools.

* From 2013-2019, that number has increased to over 16% of recruits in Texas signing with SEC schools.

* Since 2013, Texas A&M has caught up to Texas when it comes to signing in-state four-star and five-star players — let’s refer to them as blue-chip recruits — as rated by the 247Sports Composite. In the recruiting classes of 2008 through 2012, the Longhorns signed 79 blue-chip recruits from the state of Texas and the Aggies landed 29. But since the 2013 class, the scoreboard for blue-chip in-state recruits reads Texas 69, Texas A&M 65.

It’s important to understand the recruiting landscape in Texas prior to realignment and Texas A&M’s bold decision to bolt for the SEC. In the recruiting classes of 2008 through 2012, the Longhorns signed twice as many blue-chip Texas recruits as anybody else. Oklahoma signed 32 during that period, just a few more than the Aggies, and nobody else came close to competing with the volume of highly-rated talent Texas was bringing in annually. The only non-Big 12 schools who signed more than five four- or five-star recruits out of Texas during this five-year period were LSU (11), TCU (eight) and Oregon (six). That’s all.

* From 2008-2012.....Seventy-five percent of these coveted recruits in the state of Texas were choosing to play in the Big 12. Rarely did the other conferences find consistent success at stealing top Texas talent. During this five-year period, only 13 blue-chip recruits signed with Pac-12 schools, six picked Big Ten schools and just three picked ACC schools. There were a few high-profile exceptions, like Andrew Luck going to Stanford or five-star Mario Edwards picking Florida State. LSU was thriving at the time and plucked some big-time talents, primarily from the Houston area where some kids perceive LSU as practically an in-state school. Oregon had a strong run in Texas under Chip Kelly, which would eventually lead to NCAA sanctions. But the strong majority of these Texas kids were ultimately content with staying close to home.

This was a tough five-year stretch for Texas A&M football. It’s the entirety of the Mike Sherman era, which yielded a 25-25 record. And though the Aggies still signed and developed some great players during that period, their classes consistently ranked behind both Texas and Oklahoma.

And then they left the Big 12.

And what happened next was a confluence of so many monumental things happening in such a short period of time.

Then....A&M fired Sumlin and Johnny Manziel became a Heisman-winning legend.

….Those two made the Aggies remarkably cool in recruits’ eyes. Texas A&M invested $483 million into first-class football facilities, fueled by ambition and high oil prices. The SEC brand, already booming from seven consecutive national champions, was growing stronger every year. Alabama continued its emergence as the dominant recruiting superpower. And the Longhorns? They fell apart. Brown was pushed out at the end of the 2013 season, and they’ve gone 33-31 ever since.

So what has that done in this state? Texas A&M has capitalized on its rapid rise and Texas’ stumbles and pulled even on elite in-state recruiting. The Aggies have so much more to sell now, with a foundation of steady success to continue building upon — 8+ wins in six of the last seven years, seven first-round NFL draft picks — and the mere timing of their move couldn’t have been more optimal. They’ve differentiated from their former Big 12 foes in a way they couldn’t before.

This post was edited on 8/15/19 at 3:14 pm