US Senator Ted Cruz vs. the Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies

Are the United States Senators from the State of Texas actively working against the University of Texas and its rival Texas A&M? U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has seemingly gone to war with the state's flagship university and its biggest rival, Texas A&M. And the (probable) future U.S. Senator from Texas, Ken Paxton, has publicly and controversially allied himself with Texas Tech.

It is a stunning turn of events for the state's flagship university. For 20 years, the University of Texas had an ally in the U.S. Senate. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a UT alum and former Longhorns cheerleader, was a United States Senator from 1993 to 2013. She was replaced by Cruz.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz

For years, sports fans have joked about the "Ted Cruz Curse." It seems when Cruz attends a sporting event to support a team from the state, they lose. The narrative reached fever pitch when Cruz attended the Sugar Bowl in 2024 between Washington and Texas. The Huskies beat the Longhorns and social media exploded.

Cruz took to social media to defend himself a few days after the game.

"To all the dishonest press hacks blaming me for the Longhorn’s heartbreaking loss, ok—if you give me the WINS I’ve cheered on too!" Cruz said.

The Senator also watched Alabama beat Texas A&M in College Station. He then watched all of the Astros losses in the 2023 postseason, which coincided with the in-state rival Texas Rangers winning the World Series. 

It is a humorous running joke in the state, but it doesn't have roots in reality. It is just superstition and funny social media posts.

What is real, is the soon to be senior Senator from the Lone Star State is aggressively pushing legislation that seems to be anti-Longhorns and anti-Aggies.

The Protect College Sports Act is a bi-partisan effort by Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that seeks to reform the NIL system. The two "super conferences," the SEC and Big Ten, seem to be a primary target of the bill.

Cruz wants to protect the other conferences, primarily the Big 12 and ACC, from possible expansion and financial domination of the SEC and Big Ten. The legislation would also include NIL and transfer caps that would limit the perceived advantage many blue blood schools have, that of larger NIL pools for recruiting and the transfer portal.

Under the bill, athletes would be limited in their ability to transfer, a way to curb the deep-wallets programs like UT and A&M from "poaching" players from other teams. The new rules would also make it more difficult for donors to give prospects funds directly. There is also a voluntary provision that would allow schools to pool together to negotiate television deals, which is currently disallowed under antitrust laws.

Both the SEC and Big Ten have come out against the bill, warning the change would result in less revenue across the board. Many representatives of SEC institutions have publicly opposed the legislation in one way or another. In a rare instance, Texas and Texas A&M released a joint statement.

"On behalf of Texas A&M University and the University of Texas, we are grateful for the significant work of Congress in attempting to solve some of the critical challenges currently facing college athletics," the letter read. "While we appreciate the efforts of many in the recently released Protect College Sports Act, there remain key issues with the bill as currently drafted.

"While Texas A&M University and the University of Texas do not support this bill in its current form, we look forward to working with Congress and the Southeastern Conference to make the necessary improvements so that we can support the bill and ensure the future of college athletics is preserved for students, fans and institutions alike."

Cantwell has called for the SEC and Big Ten to "listen to some other people" amid their opposition to the bill. She accused the Big Ten and SEC of "intimidating" members by "threatening" schedule changes for teams.

Shortly after Cantwell's comments, the presidents and chancellors for the two conferences released their own joint statement.

"Senator Cantwell's characterization of the Big Ten and SEC engagement regarding the Protect College Sports Act does not accurately reflect the process that has occurred," the statement read, in part. "From the time the legislation was introduced, our member universities have been engaged, vocal, and collaborative in evaluating the bill and identifying ways to improve it.

"During the single 30-minute call provided to Big Ten and SEC chancellors and presidents, Senators Cruz and Cantwell spoke for much of the discussion, leaving limited time for institutional feedback. Nevertheless, both groups of university leaders identified positive elements of the legislation and were encouraged to provide recommended changes and priority issues. Those recommendations and priorities were submitted shortly thereafter."

Cruz's decision to take on the two most powerful universities in his state has puzzled many political insiders, who believe he risks alienating powerful Republican donors in Texas that are alumni of UT and A&M. But one of Cruz' biggest, and most powerful, allies is Texas Tech regent and super booster Cody Campbell. The prominent GOP donor has reportedly spent more than $60 million to recruit football players to his alma mater in Lubbock. 

"The Texas Techs of the world, you and I consider them big time athletics, but they're not at the top of the pyramid," Bill Carter said. Carter is a consultant who advises college athletes. "I suspect (Cody) believes by putting more regulation in place they’ll lose out less. There are issues with NIL, but it's not going as poorly as is often described. Those who want federal legislation are bemoaning every aspect. They never liked NIL, and they're constantly on the soapbox complaining about its flaws."

The bill might reshape college football more than intended. Since the bill was made public, members of the SEC have started discussing breaking away from the NCAA all together. Sarkisian even told the media in May that the prospect of a break-away SEC is a real possibility.

“There’s lot of sentiment for breaking away and having your own rules. That’s realistic,” Sarkisian said. “You’re going to sign up or you don't, but if you do, here’s our rules. Here’s how this thing is going to work.”

In his wide-ranging comments to open SEC media days on Monday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey discussed the controversial bill. Sankey said the SEC does not support the bill in its current form and confirmed there have been "real" conversations about whether the league should break away.

"People have talked about that," Sankey said. "The frustrations that bring them to the point of saying we should look at something significantly different. I do not believe that is a leverage point. I think that's honest communication."

Cruz wants to reform the college sports system, but his bill might unintentionally break it apart. Either way, Texas and Texas A&M have publicly opposed the wishes of their own Senator.

U.S. Senate Candidate Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General is currently running for the other Texas Senate spot. Paxton defeated longtime incumbent John Cornyn in the Republican primary, who has been a senator from Texas since 2002. With Texas being a predominately red state, Paxton is the overwhelming favorite to defeat Democratic nominee James Talarico in the fall.

Paxton has had a checkered past. The generally conservative editorial board at the Dallas Morning News has blasted the senate candidate. The paper details a laundry list of allegations, which we won't go into here. But many include improper influence and abuse of office.

On May 25, 2023, the Republican-led House General Investigating Committee unanimously recommended that Paxton be impeached. The committee filed 20 articles of impeachment. Texas House voted 121–23 in favor of impeachment on May 27, 2023. Sixty Republicans and sixty-one Democrats voted to impeach. Paxton became only the third statewide official in Texas history to be impeached by the House.

The impeachment trial began on September 5, 2023, in the Texas Senate, in which there were 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats. On September 16, 2023, Paxton's impeachment trial concluded with a majority of sixteen Republican senators voting to acquit Paxton. The number was short of the twenty-one senators needed to convict Paxton, who resumed his duties as attorney general.

So how does any of this relate to the University of Texas? It comes back to Texas Tech billionaire Cody Campbell.

"On June 11, Paxton used his state office to threaten the Big 12 Conference with violating federal and state antitrust laws if it attempted to prevent Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby from taking the field. Sorsby had admitted to gambling on his own team before joining Tech. He has since left Tech, despite university leaders absurdly trying to defend him after he violated one of the most sacred rules of competition." - The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board.

The Big 12 took legal action against the Lubbock institution and Paxton. The conference filed a 47-page complaint against Texas Tech, the Texas attorney general, the system’s chancellor, the school president, and the athletic director in seeking a declaratory judgment and a preliminary injunction to enable it to enforce its bylaws.

Tech capitulated and announced Sorsby would not attempt to continue his college career and try his hand at the NFL. But by siding with Campbell, Paxton came out against the wishes of the rest of college football, including the University of Texas and Texas A&M.

The future is unclear, but for now, bitter rivals Texas and Texas A&M have joined forces to fight one U.S. Senator from their own state and might need to beware of the soon-to-be other U.S. Senator from Texas.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: U.S. Senator Ted Cruz vs. the Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies