We did this for Nebraska and Missouri vs. the Big Ten back in the spring of 2010, and with all the talk swirling around Texas A&M and the SEC, let's take a look at the Aggies' historical record against the league.
Alabama (1-3)
The Crimson Tide and Aggies haven't lined up against one another since 1988, when Alabama beat A&M 30-10 in College Station. Texas A&M's lone win in the series came on Jan. 1, 1968, with a 20-16 victory in the Cotton Bowl. Coincidentally, Texas A&M has never played in Tuscaloosa. Two games came in the Cotton Bowl, another in College Station and the other in Birmingham, Ala.
Arkansas (24-40-3)
The old Southwest Conference rivals are entering Year 3 of a 10-year deal to play in Cowboys Stadium that could stretch to 30 years, but Arkansas has won both meetings so far, the first since the Hogs left the league to join the SEC in the early 1990s.
Auburn (2-0)
Texas A&M has won both meetings (1911 and 1986) by double digits, including a win in the Cotton Bowl in 1986.
Florida (1-1)
The Gators and Aggies met in the 1977 Sun Bowl, won by Texas A&M, 37-14. Florida won the other meeting, 42-6, in Gainesville in 1962.
Georgia (3-2)
The Aggies won the first three meetings, but the past two have been forgettable. Georgia beat Texas A&M 44-20 in the 2009 Independence Bowl and won 42-0 in Athens in 1980.
Kentucky (1-1)
The two haven't met since 1953, but the home team lost both ends of a home-and-home in 1952 and 1953, by a combined four points.
LSU (20-27-3)
The Tigers won the renewal of the rivalry in last year's Cotton Bowl, 41-21, but Texas A&M won five consecutive annual games in the 1990s, capped by a 33-17 win in 1995, the last time Texas A&M beat a team from the SEC.
Mississippi (4-0)
The teams haven't met since 1980 and just twice since 1914, but the Aggies have pitched shutouts in two of the four games and outscored the Rebels 61-27 overall.
Mississippi State (2-2)
The Bulldogs knocked off Texas A&M 43-41 in overtime in the 2000 Independence Bowl, but a 14-0 Texas A&M win in 1937 is the only other meeting between the teams since 1915.
Tennessee (0-2)
The Vols dominated the 2005 Cotton Bowl with a 38-7 win, and beat the Aggies 3-0 in the 1957 Gator Bowl, the only other meeting.
Cumulative record: 58-78-6 (.426 winning percentage)
Texas A&M doesn't have much history with anyone inside the league other than LSU and Arkansas, but that's not a very impressive record. My stance all along is that any recruiting advantages Texas A&M might gain from splitting to a new league away from Texas would be negated by losing, built on my belief that the only true currency in recruiting is wins.
From the SEC's perspective, I'm sure they'd love to have Texas A&M. Entrance into the state of Texas for recruiting would be a boon for the league, and the Aggies bring a lot of television sets and one of the nation's largest and most active alumni bases. And don't look for them to upset the balance of the league at the top. Their entrance, at least immediately, wouldn't intimidate anyone the way a team like TCU coming into the Big 12 might. It's not a perfect example, but you see the point.
Obviously, with all these games being played so long ago, you can't take a lot of absolute truth from it, but for as much talk as I hear from Aggies fans about "cycles," it would seem that Texas A&M has been pedaling uphill against the SEC for the entire history of its program.
For comparison, here's how Nebraska stacked up against the Big Ten. (Overall record: 79-68-9, .537)
And though it eventually was for naught, here's how Missouri stacked up against the Big Ten. (Overall record: 46-55-4, .455)