It’s rivalry week in college football, which means we once again must address the lost series between the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies. When Texas A&M moved from the Big 12 to the SEC, a rivalry on the field was killed off, but the rivalry still lives on between power players on both sides and the topic of conversation has never died down between the two programs and their fans. And as much as people on both sides will sometimes argue they don’t need the other, we all know it would be great to see the Longhorns and Aggies take the field once again.
With the season winding down and Texas and Texas A&M each heading to not-so-glamorous bowl destinations, the possibility of a Texas Bowl for the ages has been popping up to some degree. A Texas Bowl featuring Texas and Texas A&M would make for the best Texas Bowl in the history of the bowl game, but one Texas beta reporter suggests that would not be a welcomed bowl pairing for some Texas officials.
Big surprise.
I've been told that Texas officials will frown on playing A&M. They don't want to rekindle the rivalry that way. https://t.co/cvcD1jhifu
— Brian Davis (@BDavisUT) November 19, 2017
Texas officials have always seemed wary of reviving the series with Texas A&M, which makes sense from the Texas point of view. To Longhorn officials, a rivalry with Texas A&M does more to help those in College Station than it does in Austin. There is some elitism in that line of thinking, but there is also some truth to that as well. But that is the risk of an in-state rivalry for any program in the country.
As a fan from a neutral point of view, I can say the day Texas and Texas A&M work out an arrangement to play football against each other again will be a proud day for the sport of college football. It would be a shame to see it have to happen through a bowl game on a neutral field, but if that’s what it takes to make it happen, so be it. Other than the Cotton Bowl, which is not an option this year, the Texas Bowl in Houston would be a pretty good spot to make it happen.