College Football: Top 15 rivalry games we’d like to see return in 2020

3. Texas vs. Texas A&M

Games played: 118
Series record: Texas leads 76-37-5
Last played: 2011
Next meeting: Not scheduled

The instate rivalry between the Longhorns and Aggies has been played a total of 118 times, making the game the tenth most played Division I matchup in college football history, despite the hiatus in the series since the Aggies left the Big 12 following the 2011 season.

The series began in 1894 and would be played in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston during the early years until the rivalry became an annual game beginning in 1915. The game would be played over or around Thanksgiving every year from 1915 until the series end with the location alternating between Austin and College Station.

The series had been historically one-sided from the beginning with Texas owning a 59-18-5 record over the Aggies until the mid-1970s. After a seven-game win streak from a perennial top 10 Texas team during 1968-1974, the series would shift when an undefeated, No. 2 Texas A&M  defeated one-loss, No. 5 Texas in College Station, 20-10.

While the Aggies hopes for a national title would end the following week with a 31-6 loss over eventual Southwest Conference champions Arkansas, the dominance in the rivalry had come to an end.

From 1975 through the final matchup in 2011, the Aggies owned the head to head record over the Longhorns, 19-18, despite losing the final matchup in College Station.

The final matchup between the two was a back and forth affair with the Aggies taking a 16-7 lead into halftime. The Longhorns rallied back in the third quarter, scoring 17 straight and led 24-16 going into the fourth and final quarter. Despite the touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill with 1:48 left to take a 25-24 lead, the Longhorns drove 48 yards downfield and ended A&M’s Big 12 tenure with a loss following a game-winning 40-yard field goal from Justin Tucker.

While the two schools have not played since the dramatic 2011 finale, the intensity still exists between Texas families, friends and alumni of the schools, and recent graduates looking for jobs across the state. Although other former Big 12 rivalries have resumed or are set to resume in the upcoming seasons, there is not a planned date for the Aggies and Longhorns to resume their series and neither athletic department looks set to make changes to their future schedules, making any future matchup a Big 12-SEC bowl game.

Since the game ended in 2011, there have been multiple attempts to bring back one of college football’s greatest and oldest rivalries. There have been multiple attempts at passing a bill within the Texas state government requiring the two to play, but neither have gained the traction despite the approval of the Texas government.

In addition to the legislative push, student bodies at both schools have organized movements to reinstate the rivalry with 97 percent of Texas students and 89 percent of A&M students approving bringing back the game.

Despite the interest across student bodies, alumni, and government officials, neither school looks set to make a push towards renewing the rivalry. There is room for the two to play over the final week of the season similarly as to how SEC programs Georgia, Florida and South Carolina finish their seasons against instate, ACC rivals but each athletic director has recently shot down any hopes.

Texas AD Chris Del Conte recently stated, “My goal is to play anyone that has won a national championship in the modern era as part of our non-conference schedule.”

Texas A&M’s AD took that shot and followed up with a Twitter user with the following after a suggestion to renewal the rivalry earlier this month.