There has been a lengthy history of football glory at Texas A&M. Winners of the national title in 1939 – with three additional championships recognized belatedly – fans and alumni of the school are rightfully proud of their football tradition. Though they are now a part of the Big Twelve Conference, they were once members of the Southwest Conference where they won 19 total conference championships. They proudly play each of their home game on Kyle Field, an 80,000 capacity football stadium that is situated right on the A&M campus.

The rivalry
The Aggies of A&M have been matched up against one main rival in almost every year of the last one hundred plus. That rival is the mighty Longhorns of Texas. Like other in-state rivalries, the Longhorn-Aggies matchup has often been heated, and always fiercely contended. With its origins in the early days of college football, the rivalry has persisted since 1894, with only six seasons in which the two teams did not meet. This longevity marks the Aggies-Longhorn rivalry as one of the longest in the sport – with only two other national rivalries surpassing the total number of times these two teams have met.

Novelties and trivia
Almost every rivalry between instate opponents has a tendency to involve the fans in way that are both comic and disconcerting. In the case of this rivalry, there is a long history of novel traditions that mark the matchup as significant for both schools. The fight songs of both schools are perhaps the most obvious. The Texas Fight anthem and Aggie War Hymn have both been written in a manner that uses the rival’s name in the song. Such a specific focus on one particular school is all but unheard of in sports at any level!

In addition, there are rituals performed at each school prior to the arrival of game day. The Texas fans have the Texas Hex Rally to get their fan base excited – and hopefully disturb the Aggies’ game flow, while the Aggies have a bonfire that excites their own supporters. Other traditions are less benign. For example, there was one instance in which a mascot was kidnapped. On the whole, however, these traditions and novelties are merely harmless ways for the fans to show their support – such as the novel manner in which the Texas Tower is lit after any victory against the Aggies.

Texas has the edge
Most fans realize that Texas has traditionally been the more dominant of the two teams. However, the most recent four decades tell a tale of close games and a greater parity between the two schools. Over the last thirty years, the overall record is practically a tie. Of course, Aggies fans – and Texas detractors – would probably prefer that we all focus on the 1984 to 1994 era, in which the Texas teams lost ten of the eleven contests to the Aggies.

The series has seen a total of thirty-five games in which one team has shutout the other, three scoreless ties, and twenty-four times the Texas team has been ranked when facing the Aggies. What is amazing is that the A&M squads have beaten Texas in seven of those twenty-four games. Then again, rivalries are like that – and many teams feed off of the opportunity to ruin their chief rival’s season. One thing is for certain – this historic feud is sure to entertain both teams’ fans and the rest of us far into the future.

Author Bio: Ivan Jamison is a big sports fan. You can check out his Texas A&M Aggies Watch or his Philadelphia Phillies Watch or his Atlanta Braves Watch

Category: Sports
Keywords: Texas A&M Aggies