Texas thrilled to renew Texas A&M, Arkansas rivalries in SEC - ESPN

DESTIN, Fla. — Texas won't face Arkansas and Texas A&M until November, but the excitement surrounding the return of the storied rivalries was already creating chatter this week at the SEC spring meetings, where Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian made his first appearance as an incoming member of the league.

Arkansas hosts Texas on Nov. 16 as a conference rival for the first time since 1991, when the Hogs beat the Horns 14-13 and both programs were in the Southwest Conference.

To end the season, Texas and Texas A&M will renew its heated rivalry in College Station on Nov. 30. The two haven't played since 2011, after playing each year from 1915-2011, which was tied for the eighth-longest uninterrupted series at the time. In that 2011 matchup, Justin Tucker kicked a 40-yard field goal to give Texas the 27-25 win in College Station.

«I've been part of some great rivalries in college football, and I know there was so much talk about realignment and I know realignment looks different for every school, but for us, we gained two rivals back,» Sarkisian said. «We're playing Arkansas again, which is great for Texas and Longhorn nation. We get A&M back. The game with A&M, you're talking about houses divided, you're talking about decades of tremendous games and Thanksgiving weekend. To get that game back, we're looking forward to it, I'm sure A&M is, too. I've got a ton of respect for coach [Mike] Elko.»

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said the state's passion for the series with the Longhorns hasn't dwindled even though the games have.

«Our rival has been Texas when we didn't play Texas,» Pittman said. «You can feel it in the state. We did have an opportunity to play Texas two or three seasons ago, and it was a big, big deal for the state