The University of Texas recently extended an invitation to Texas A&M to resume their instate football rivalry and play a home-and-home in 2022-23, the Houston Chronicle has reported.
The Aggies, according to the Chronicle, declined.
"We were already booked," Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward told the newspaper. "We're booked 10 years out. He had an opening at the time, and it suited him, but it didn't suit us."
The Aggies reportedly have Appalachian State and Miami scheduled in 2022, then New Mexico and Miami in 2023. After the Aggies declined, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte scheduled Alabama for those two years instead.
In addition to any scheduling conflicts, the Chronicle reported that the Aggies "don't believe" they need to renew their rivalry with Texas -- primarily because of their affiliation in the SEC West.
"You have Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State rolling in here every other year and Arkansas in Dallas every year. That's a pretty darn good schedule," Woodward said. "And as brutal and hard as our schedule is in the SEC West. ... it's definitely the toughest division in football. That's proven year in and year out."
Texas and Texas A&M have not played since 2011, when the Longhorns posted a 27-25 victory in College Station.
"You look at where national championships come from and the caliber of play, and you see it every week," Woodward said. "It's hard on a team, and it's a pounding. So you have to be careful how you schedule your nonconference games."
