Texas A&M Erects Billboard In Gainesville Declaring Itself "Cleanest Program In The SEC" Prior To Aggies-Gators Matchup [UPDATE]

Texas A & M gets its first taste of SEC football this Saturday as they host the Florida Gators in College Station, and the university apparently felt it necessary to welcome themselves to the conference with this billboard at a busy intersection in the northeast corner of Gainesville.

That's according to UF's official athletics site, which presents a picture of the billboard advertising the Aggies as having "The Best Academics & Cleanest Program in the SEC," alongside "Real Football. Real Tradition."

The "cleanest program" claim is laughable; see here for a list suggesting the Aggies are actually the sixth-dirtiest program of all time (and it's a legitimate argument). Maybe they meant "since joining the SEC"? As for academics, I think Vanderbilt might put forth a strong claim to that title; in fact, Vandy blows Texas A & M out of the water.

But this is just trolling, right? And I guess it worked, delusional Aggies fans, because here we are posting about it.

[ GatorZone]

Update (10:58 a.m.): Texas A & M is claiming the university had nothing to do with the sign and is "investigating."

Update (12:17 p.m.): Here's Texas A & M's official statement:

This billboard was not placed by Texas A&M University, and it is certainly not reflective of how we have handled our transition into the SEC. We are investigating aggressively, as we believe that our institutional trademarks have been infringed upon. Texas A&M has tremendous respect for the University of Florida, and we look forward to hosting the Gators in our first SEC football game this weekend.