Texas A&M Football: Has addition of Aggies benefited SEC over the years?

This upcoming fall will mark Texas A&M football’s 10th season as a member of the SEC. Has the addition of the Aggies benefited the conference as a whole?

A high amount of intrigue followed Texas A&M football to begin the 2012 season, which marked the move of its athletic program to the Southeastern Conference. There was a highly publicized feud between it and the University of Texas, questions about the survival of the Big 12, and the looming specter of four 16-team mega conferences of NCAA football.

The Aggies took the SEC by storm in their first year, beating the No. 1 team in the land (Alabama) and finishing with an 11-2 mark behind the Heisman-winning wizardry of “Johnny Football”. Though the program has hit some bumps on the road through the 2010s, its 2020 campaign finished just short of reaching the College Football Playoff.

The school is well-positioned for success on the gridiron, with a system-wide endowment north of $13 billion and a total enrollment of nearly 70,000 students. Kyle Field, with a capacity of 102,500, is normally ranked as one of the top stadiums in the country.

The league has slowly expanded throughout its 88-year history, including additions of Arkansas and South Carolina in 1991 before welcoming Texas A&M and Missouri in 2012. The Aggies’ inclusion marked the first time ever that an SEC team moved west into Texas.

Now that a 10th season of Aggies SEC football approaches, it’s time to ask: How has the addition of Texas A&M impacted the SEC?