Texas A & M v. Arkansas

I often complain about the death of the Southwest Conference on this blog, but the last few weeks I've had the strong feeling that the old league is still alive.  We had a game between Arkansas and Texas Christian, which was an SWC fixture for many decades -- and now we have another SWC game;  Texas A & M v. Arkansas.

This is a fun series, featuring two of the most spirited fan bases in all of sports.  For years, these teams battled each other in the Southwest Conference, with the Razorbacks finally gaining an edge in the series under the great leadership of Frank Broyles.  Arkansas's last Southwest Conference game was against A & M on November 16, 1991 -- the Aggies won 13-3.  And that was it for many years, until the teams decided to renew their rivalry with the 2009 season.  The idea was that they would start an annual game, known as the Southwest Classic, that would take place at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex.  Arkansas won the first three Southwest Classics -- but since joining the SEC in 2012, the Aggies have won four in a row.  The last two were thrillers:  in 2014 the Aggies beat Arkansas 35-28 in overtime; and last year A & M won 28-21 in overtime.  Arkansas still leads the all-time series:  41-28-3.

They've met for the UCFC on three different occasions, with Arkansas winning all three games in shutouts:

10/31/1936:  Arkansas 18, Texas A & M 0
10/31/1964:  Arkansas 17, Texas A & M 0
10/30/1965:  Arkansas 31, Texas A & M 0

My guess is that we will not see a shutout today.  The Razorbacks are 3-0 and ranked number 17 in the AP Poll.  But the Aggies are doing even better -- they are 3-0 (with wins over UCLA, Prairie View, and at Auburn), and they are ranked 10th in the country.  So this is a huge game for both schools -- the winner will be off to a great start in the rugged SEC West, and will probably be on its way to a major bowl game.  Plus, it will have the UCFC.

I think of this game as a bit of a toss-up, but the folks in Vegas like A & M by six points in a game where they expect 49 points to be scored.  That would give the Aggies something like a 28-21 win, and it would mean a slight change to the colors of this page.  We will see what happens -- it would seem odd to cover a UCFC game where no one scores 40 points.