Texas A&M vs. Arkansas: 4 Reasons the Aggies Will Struggle in the SEC

Texas A&M will get a taste of what life is going to be like in the SEC West when the Aggies battle it out with Arkansas in Cowboys Stadium today.

A&M has struggled against SEC competition as of late, so it will be imperative for the team to make a positive first impression on their new league.

Judging from the press conference, it seems like everyone around the program and school is pretty gung ho about leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, but there’s a chance that the Aggies are biting off a little more than they can chew.

Here’s a look at a few reasons Texas A&M could struggle adjusting to the SEC.

Money

If you want to win in the SEC, you’ve got to spend money.

It's that simple.

A lot of the top SEC schools like Alabama and LSU spend a good chunk of their athletic budgets on football; and I can guarantee you they spend a lot more than Texas A&M.

If the Aggies want to compete, they’re going to have to bite the bullet and spend the proper funds on football, otherwise, they won’t be able to catch the big spenders in the conference.

The Step Up in Competition

Texas A&M better know what it's getting into by joining the SEC.

It’s no secret that the SEC is the most powerful conference in all of college football, and no other conference can boast the same type of strength and depth of competition.

The SEC West alone is considered to be the toughest division in the sport, and it currently has two teams—Alabama and LSU—ranked in the top three in the country.

Is A&M going to be able to hang with the  LSUTigers and the Tide?

Oh, and let’s not forget about an Auburn team that is set up to dominate for a while.

Forget about Iowa State and Kansas, this is where the big boys play.

Recruiting

Texas A&M has had a solid infusion of talent in recent years, but the school still isn't considered a recruiting juggernaut.

The Aggies mostly get the leftover prospects from the state of Texas that schools like Oklahoma and Texas don’t have room for; which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, considering the state is so rich with talent.

You have to wonder, though, now that A&M will be playing pretty much all of their games out of state if that could affect recruiting.

The other Texas schools can still say to the kids, "Hey, you can come play for us and your parents can drive to all the road games."

Texas A&M has lost that pitch and that could subsequently hurt in-state recruiting.

The Pressure

Now that Texas A&M has joined the SEC, the expectation is that the Aggies are going to be ready to compete within the next few years.

Since the school basically took the "we don’t need the Big 12" approach in all of this, there’s going to be a lot of pressure to win quickly.

The reality is, though, that A&M is not just going to walk in and start beating the upper-echelon teams; and it remains to be seen if they can hang with the second-tier teams in the conference.

The SEC is a whole different world and we’re about to find out if the Aggies are up for the challenge.