As it was originally described, the upper-tier teams were each supposed to have 2 upper-tier annual rivals and 1 lower-tier annual rivals. Maybe I have a mistaken idea of which teams are in which tier, but I see some schedules that don't seem to match that description. Texas A&M, for example, has what I would think are 3 top-tier annual rivals. So does Arkansas, I think.
FTR, I'm happy with OU's annual rivals. Texas was mandatory and Missouri was almost a given, since it was a conference mate going back to Big 6 days. Ole Miss is a pleasant surprise. Our about-to-retire A.D. Joe Castiglione loves the game-day experience in Oxford. I wonder if he put in a personal request for Ole Miss.
A lot of Aggies, in fact a large majority of Aggies, really wanted LSU. There are multiple reasons for that, not the least of which is that we had developed something of a nice rivalry with LSU in our time in the SEC. It is a little lopsided, especially the first 5-6 games, but we have had some really good games over the years and our history goes way back, I think there's something like 30-50 games played between the schools. Also, I think outside of UT, it's the closest school to College Station at 359 miles. Arkansas I believe is the next closest at 512 miles.
I know a lot of people wanted us to play Arkansas, and I'm sure it would be a net positive for A&M as we're like 12-1 against them or something. I don't remember the exact number, but I can tell you we've only lost one game against them the whole time we've been in the SEC. We've had some really close games, a couple of scares, but somehow we manage to pull it out at the end, search for the Oink Doink for instance.
I'm neutral on Mizzou. We've won some, we've lost some, nobody gives a shit. I'd much rather play either Ole Miss, or Miss State. Ole Miss because they're kinda cool, and sometimes they're really good. Miss State has really been a tough game for us, and the DNA of the schools is kinda similar. Maroon colors, Ag school, etc, Jackie Sherrill and Emory Bellard. But honestly I don't care to play them every year. They're absolutely atrocious at least 30-40% of the time, and the rest of the time beating them gives you nothing because they spend so many years in the crapper. It's almost like Baylor in the old Big 12. They were so bad for so long, I can never ever think of them as a good or decent football team, even when they're not bad.
I'm sure you're all smirking because A&M's not far from that situation, but all the more reason not to play them.
Jesus, I just had to look up Emory Bellard to make sure I spelled his name right, and I discovered his middle name is Dilworth.
