Soon as old Lincoln heard about the move to the SEC he likely started weighing his options. That OU team’s ceiling in the SEC is 8 or 9 wins. Like I said in another thread they basically are what A&M is now when they come to the SEC.
A&M's final ten seasons in the Big 12: 64 wins (average 6.4 wins/season)
A&M's first ten seasons in the SEC: 85 wins (average 8.5 wins/season)
Part of that is playing 1 extra game a year but that should give them 1/2 a win more per season, not more than 2. They literally went from a mediocre-ass team to a team that's regularly in the top-20.
Back when A&M was in the Big-12 they went 11 straight years without achieving a top-10 ranking for a single week. Now that they're in the SEC they're ranked top-10 at some point almost every single year and have finished the season ranked top-5 twice.