Texas A&M takes over the SEC Network for the fourth consecutive year on Friday, July 27, as the network fills a 24-hour block with entirely Texas A&M programming. The takeover includes highlights from Texas A&M’s 2017-18 athletic year, throwbacks to some of Texas A&M’s most exciting historic wins in the 1986 Cotton Bowl, 1990 Holiday Bowl and 2011 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, plus the inspirational original documentary, The Burning Desire.
This year’s schedule, which starts at 11 p.m. CT on Thursday July 26, tips off with men’s basketball’s 85-74 win over No. 24 Kentucky on February 10, the first of three games from the Sweet 16 squad. The Aggies’ season-opening 88-65 win over No. 10 West Virginia in the Armed Forces Classic airs at 3 a.m., and Texas A&M’s 86-65 win over No. 2 seeded North Carolina, that clinched a berth in the Sweet 16, airs at 9 p.m. to close the day.
Two women’s basketball games are shown during the takeover, starting with the Aggies’ 79-76 overtime win over No. 6 Tennessee on January 11. Khaalia Hillsman scored 22 points, and Chennedy Carter added 21 to give the Aggies their first top-10 win since 2014. The Aggies’ 58-46 win in the 2011 Elite Eight against Baylor, in which Texas A&M never trailed en route to their first Final Four and National Championship, is shown at 2:30 p.m.
A pair of SEC Championships are scheduled for the day, starting with Aggie soccer’s 2-1 win over Arkansas in the SEC Tournament Championship from November 5, which airs at 4:30 a.m. Emily Bates scored in the 88th minute to give the Aggies their third SEC Tournament title in the six years. The women’s swimming and diving team’s wire-to-wire win in the SEC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship in February is featured at 8 a.m. The Aggies won their third straight SEC Championship in their home pool, scoring 1,319 points at the meet, a school-record at an SEC Championship.
Aggie football throws it back to bowl wins over Heisman Trophy winners. The Aggies’ 36-16 win over Auburn in the 1986 Cotton Bowl is featured as a SEC Rewind show at 6 a.m., as the Tigers’ Bo Jackson was stuffed on four tries at the Texas A&M end zone early in the fourth quarter, taking away Auburn’s last shot at the lead. The 1990 Sea World Holiday Bowl is featured at 4:30 p.m., as the Aggies dismantled Ty Detmer’s BYU squad, 65-14. The Aggies set then-NCAA bowl game records for points (65) and touchdowns (nine) with 680 yards of total offense, while holding Detmer to just 120 passing yards.
The opening weekend of Davis Diamond makes an appearance at 9:30 a.m., with Aggie softball’s walk-off 1-0 win over No. 12 Auburn from April 28. Kristen Cuyos broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh with a single up the middle, clinching the series and the second win in the Aggies’ 6-0 start at Davis Diamond.
The Aggie baseball team’s 7-3 win over No. 1 Florida is featured at 11:30 a.m., as the Aggies piled up 11 hits, including home runs by Hunter Coleman and Cole Bedford. Stephen Kolek picked up the win for the Aggies, pitching 6.2 innings, and not allowing a hit in the last 3.2 frames before Nolan Hoffman closed out the game, pitching the final 2.1 innings.
The takeover is highlighted by The Burning Desire, an inspirational original documentary by 12th Man Productions. The documentary, originally produced in 2009, chronicles the dramatic events on the Texas A&M campus in November 1999 when the Aggie Bonfire collapsed killing 12 students and injuring several others and how the rivalry football game days later with the Texas Longhorns became an emotional focal point for all affected.
Complete Schedule
11 p.m. (July 26) – Men’s Basketball – Texas A&M 84, Kentucky 75 (Feb. 10, 2018)
1 a.m. – Women’s Basketball – Texas A&M 79, Tennessee 76 (OT) (Jan. 11, 2018)
3 a.m. – Men’s Basketball – Texas A&M 88, West Virginia 65 (Nov. 11, 2018)
4:30 a.m. – Soccer – SEC Championship: Texas A&M 2, Arkansas 1 (November 5, 2018)
6 a.m. – Football – SEC Rewind - 1986 Cotton Bowl: Texas A&M 36, Auburn 16 (Jan. 1, 1986)
8 a.m. – Women’s Swimming & Diving – SEC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship (Feb. 18, 2018)
9:30 a.m. – Softball – Texas A&M 1, Auburn 0 (Apr. 28, 2018)
11:30 a.m. – Baseball – Texas A&M 7, Florida 3 (May 6, 2018)
2:30 p.m. – Women’s Basketball – 2011 NCAA Elite 8 – Texas A&M 58, Baylor 46 (Mar. 29, 2018)
4:30 p.m. – Football – 1990 Holiday Bowl – Texas A&M 65, BYU 14 (Dec. 29, 1990)
7:30 p.m. – The Burning Desire
9 p.m. – Men’s Basketball – 2018 NCAA Second Round – Texas A&M 86, North Carolina 65 (Mar. 18, 2018)
