The Texas A&M football program doesn’t have a whole lot to brag about these days. The Aggies are in fourth place in the SEC West and have already fired their coach as they head toward their 11th straight season without earning double-digit wins.
But A&M did find something to brag about after beating Abilene Christian on Saturday. The school posted on social media that the win was its 17th straight against opponents from Texas since the start of the 2012 season. Sounds pretty impressive, right? Texas is the most football-mad state in the country and home to some great college programs.
Improved to 17-0 against in-state schools since 2012#GigEm pic.twitter.com/UUsOdZLQgR
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) November 19, 2023
But A&M’s fun fact isn’t as noteworthy as it might seem. Of those 17 wins, eight have come against FCS opponents (Sam Houston State, Lamar, Prairie View A&M and Abilene Christian). None of the other teams included in the stat (SMU, Rice, UTSA, UTEP and Texas State) are in Power 5 conferences.
Fans were quick to call out the Aggies for it:
Engagement bait for Twitter revenue to fund Jimbo’s buyout is ingenious
— aggyreport (@aggyreport) November 19, 2023
imagine any other team bragging about beating Abilene Christian... not a good look.
— Out Fox Sports (@MarkHolder27) November 19, 2023
Honestly should have SEC card revoked for this tweet. 🥴
— Chris Landry (@chris_m_landry) November 19, 2023
I’m 387-0 against my son in arm wrestling since 2016. He’s 7
— Wawl Finebaum (@WawlFinebaum) November 20, 2023
I’m an Aggie. It’s embarrassing to brag about this considering who we’ve played and how bad we looked yesterday.
— jimmy vitulli (@jimmyvitulli) November 20, 2023
Texas Tech is 13-0 also against in-state (non-P5) schools since 2012.
— Zach 🌵🏴☠️ (@Zrdr17) November 20, 2023
16-0 if you count UH when they were G5.
And we were pretty terrible for many of the years in that span… only A&M would try to brag about something ridiculous as this https://t.co/hpAwHh7NhP
Cutting off the stat in 2012 is a shrewd move by the Aggies. That’s the year that they moved from the Big 12 to the SEC. Their last game against an in-state opponent before the conference switch was a home loss to their biggest rival, Texas. Since then, A&M hasn’t played a single game against a power-conference team from its home state. That’ll change next year, though, when Texas moves to the SEC and renews its rivalry with A&M.
