The Texas A&M vs Arkansas NCAA Football Odds Rivalry Reviewed

Posted by Alex Murphy on Friday,June 19, 2015 11:46, EDT in

If you’re a college football betting aficionado that is looking for some gridiron information to help you get past the dog days of summer and the long offseason, then you’re in for a treat thanks to this insightful look at the annual matchup between the Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks that is known as the Southwest Classic.

The Texas A&M vs Arkansas NCAA Football Odds Rivalry Reviewed

The Beginning

The football rivalry between Texas A&M and Arkansas began way back in 1903, the same year I started kindergarten alongside guys like Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. All jokes aside, when the two current SEC rivals squared off in 1903, the Aggies recorded a 6-0 shutout win over the Razorbacks. The meeting was just the 42nd game ever played by Texas A&M and the 43rd game in school history for Arkansas. The Razorbacks currently lead the all-time series 41-27-3.

Still, the rivalry began at a snail’s pace with the two gridiron programs meeting just three times between 1903 and 1912 and each time, as non-conference opponents. Texas A&M and Arkansas would not meet on the field again until 1927 although both schools were original charter members of the old Southwest Conference 12 years earlier in 1915.

The schools played four straight times between 1927 and 1930, but would not meet again until 1934. From 1934–91, the two teams staged a perennial matchup as conference members, though the series would take a break in 1991 when the Razorbacks left the conference to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Big Games

In 1939, Texas A&M rolled all over Arkansas 27-0 before going on to win the national championship with an unblemished 11-0 record. A quarter of a century later, the 1964 Razorbacks repaid the favor by manhandling the Aggies in its 17-0 shutout win en route to their own national title with an identical 11-0 record. In 1991, in a nationally-televised game, Texas A&M took down Arkansas 13-3 in the Razorbacks’ last game as members of the Southwest Conference.

More Recent History

The series would not resume until 2009 after Arkansas left the Southwest Conference to join the SEC. The rivalry officially resumed on October 3, 2009 under the name “Southwest Classic” after officials from both schools made an announcement on March 10, 2008 that they had agreed to re-start the longstanding series.

The new rivalry was set up as a neutral-site out-of-conference contest but in 2012 it once again became a conference rivalry when Texas A&M also joined the powerful SEC and was placed alongside Arkansas in the West Division. For the Aggies’ first two seasons in the SEC the series was played as a home-and-home series at the school’s campuses but was resumed last season as a neutral-site matchup that is played at Jerry Jones’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

By the Betting Numbers

Texas A&M has won three straight in the series to bring the rivalry to a dead-even 3-3 SU since resuming the series in 2009, although Arkansas has compiled a bankroll-boosting 5-1 ATS mark over the span and 2-0 ATS mark over the last two meetings. Texas A&M picked up a narrow (lucky?) 35-28 win over Arkansas last season just one year after falling to the Johnny Manziel-led Aggies 45-33 in 2013. Over/Under Total betting enthusiasts should know that last season’s Under outcome snapped a three-year Over outcome for the two longtime rivals.

Texas A&M will host Arkansas on Sat, Sept 26 in a contest I will be watching intently. The Aggies will be looking to bounce back from a mediocre 2014 season while Arkansas is a team on the upswing in my estimation under outstanding head coach Bret Bielema.