Texas and Texas A&M haven’t played on the gridiron since 2011. Unless they’re paired up in a bowl game, they’re not getting back together anytime soon, either. Texas A&M is scheduled out through 2027, while Texas is booked through 2029.
The rivalry’s on-field death has fostered a cold war off of it, where Longhorns and Aggies conduct themselves like the most annoying divorced couple you’ve ever heard of, constantly making sure their ex sees how happy they are with their new beau.
One Texas legislator is determined to change that, or at least to have all of us see him attempting to change it.
On Tuesday, State Rep. Lyle Larson, a Republican from San Antonio, filed House Bill 412, which would require the schools to play each other on Thanksgiving weekend or else lose all football scholarships that use state money.
The rub here is that the bill could pass unanimously and it wouldn’t change a thing. Texas and Texas A&M (or perhaps I should say Texas A&M and Texas) are the richest athletics departments in the country, so not a single one of the 170 football scholarships between the schools uses a dime of state money.
As Ben Baby wrote for the Dallas Morning News, this isn’t the first time Larson has failed to stick to politics. In 2013, Larson, a 1981 Texas A&M graduate, co-authored a bill congratulating Johnny Manziel for winning the 2012 Heisman Trophy. That bill was signed by then-Gov. Rick Perry.