Report: SEC/Texas A&M want to avoid Horns-Aggies Texas Bowl

Since discussion about a possible face off between the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies in the Texas Bowl on December 29 at NRG Stadium in Houston first surfaced when the Horns became bowl eligible on Saturday evening, it was only a matter of time until reports started emerging about one school or the other not wanting to play the game.

And so while some believe that neither administration wants the game, the first report emerged on Tuesday morning suggesting that the Aggies and/or the SEC don't want the game to happen.

Chip Brown of Horns Digest is reporting the following:

Two sources close to the situation told HornsDigest.com SEC officials have indicated to bowls with SEC and Big 12 tie-ins that the SEC won't support a Texas vs Texas A&M postseason matchup. In short, A&M has too much to lose from a potential loss.

The report is furthering the growing narrative that Texas A&M is the school with more to lose, especially on the recruiting trail, and enabled by the fact that the SEC and bowl executives will be working from a pool of six teams to determine bowl placement -- the conference does have the power to ensure that the Longhorns and Aggies don't face off in the Texas Bowl if that's what the SEC decides.

From the Texas Bowl standpoint, the president is already on the record as intrigued by the possibility of having the two former rivals play in its game.

Of course, A&M fans have been quick to point out the misses in Brown's reporting career, notably his insistence that the Aggies wouldn't leave for the nation's most prestigious conference. But there's no doubting that he's the Texas reporter with the deepest well of sources who has been correct and in the lead on a host of other stories.

There's also been some thought out there that each of the schools would leak reports similar to the information provided to Brown in order to win the public relations battle and turn the other school into the villain wanting to avoid what would be one of the highest-profile match ups in a third-tier bowl game.

If the leak was designed to do exactly that, it would seem to have served its purposes despite the great deal of skepticism coming from Aggieland about its validity.

And so now we wait for the next salvo, one that surely won't be long in screaming over the trenches and exploding upon impact.