Texas A&M football hasn’t met Texas on the field since the Aggies left for the SEC. Slowly, but surely, more voices are crying out for change.
“So long to Texas University” echoes through the grandstands at Kyle Field each and every Saturday the Texas A&M Aggies take the football field. For as much progress and effort the College Station-based flagship school has put into building a new identity in the SEC, there will always be a deep connection with that school out west in Austin.
Known by those outside of the maroon-clad faithful as the University of Texas, the Longhorns share a bond with their fellow in-state public school in Brazos County. Whether it’s pulling up scores or championship from before anyone in the current student body was born or referencing on-field results from an individual fan’s glory days, these two schools will forever be tied at the hip.
Their inseparable nation is what has made their distance on the gridiron so puzzling. The two teams haven’t met since the Aggies departed for the SEC in 2012. For the first time in years, though, a crack might be growing in the dam of pride that separates these two institutions.
The Texas A&M student body voted, in a landslide, to reinstitute the annual rivalry game between Texas A&M and Texas. This comes months after a bill was filed in the Texas House of Representatives to mandate the game be played again.
For once, momentum could be changing. And all it would take to restore one of the most sacred rivalry games in college football would be two men, sitting down in one room, with a schedule. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte and his counterpart Scott Woodward have the power to turn these many words into action. The question remains: will they act?
As has been the reality for years since the rivalry went dormant: we’ll wait and see.