Twelve regular-season games. A precious dozen dates to cheer for the dear old alma mater while rooting for bitter rival to lose.
College football schedules are unique because of the scarcity of games and that inherent importance. Just ask people who plan a wedding in September, October or November. Attendance at said nuptials require the reception be more of a tailgate with big screens with the ceremony not in conflict with The Big Game.
Media days are the unofficial kickoff to each season. At two different venues Tuesday – AT&T Stadium in Arlington and a hotel in Hoover, Ala. – Texas and Texas A&M each had their time in the spotlights at Big 12 and Southeastern Conference media days. The calendar/schedule was a talking point. The annual question asked – will the Longhorns and the Aggies will come together on the field?
(Journalistic note: There are hundreds of thousands of words spoken at these preview events. Reporters ask these types of questions in the desperate hope that a juicy quote will lead to a highly read (viral) story. There are only so many “this team is the hardest-working group I’ve coached” answers before the brain shuts down.)
Texas coach Tom Herman said he “would love” to see the rivalry renewed.
“I think it’s great for college football,” he said. “It’s great for Texas. There’s plenty of other intrastate rivals that are in different conferences that find a way to play each other, Clemson-South Carolina, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, Iowa-Iowa State, the list goes on and on. I think it would be great for Texas fans. We don’t play a historic rival at home anymore. We’ve got to drive to Dallas to play our lone remaining history rival (Oklahoma).”
Later in the day at the SEC confab, second-year Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher was asked to respond to Herman’s answer. He had a brief and cautionary answer about renewing the rivalry.
“If it’s beneficial to Texas A&M,” Fisher said. “If it’s something that benefits Texas A&M, we’ll definitely be interested, and make those judgments as they come.”
Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond, who is from San Antonio, was more verbose when asked about scheduling UT.
“I think it would be good for sports, I think it would be good for Texas — the state of Texas, as a whole,” he said. “Obviously, I have no control over the schedule, like you said, but I definitely think it would bring that rivalry back and bring competition to the state of Texas — not only to the field but in recruiting, too.”
Fisher also mentioned that Texas A&M’s nonconference marquee games are scheduled for the next 10 years. Texas has games scheduled through 2033 with opponents like Arkansas, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, Georgia, Florida and Arizona State. The “scheduling formula” calls for playing one – and only one – nonconference game against another Power Five foe.
This season, Sept. 7 is a circle-in-red date for Texas A&M and Texas fans. The Aggies will play at defending national champion Clemson – a team the Aggies came within a two-point conversion of beating in College Station last season. In primetime that Saturday, the Longhorns will host LSU, a team that is becoming A&M’s biggest rival in the SEC West. Gig ‘em fans will no doubt be torn – which team do they want to lose – virtual rival or real rival?
Facing Clemson in Week Two is merely a taste of the challenge facing the Aggies this season. Texas A&M finished 2018 on a four-game winning streak – which included its first-ever SEC triumph over LSU – and won nine games for the first time since 2013. Fisher’s second season has loads of promise, but the schedule is daunting.
In addition to playing Clemson on the road, the Aggies close the regular season with back-to-back road games at Georgia (expected to win the SEC East) and LSU. Alabama, which is a popular pick to return to the College Football Playoff, visits Kyle Field on Oct. 12 (ironically, the same day Oklahoma and Texas face off in the Red River Rivalry in Dallas).
To surpass last season’s nine victories in 13 games, Texas A&M will need to win its bowl game plus knock off one of the four teams that will be heavily favored. For what it’s worth, Phil Steele’s preview magazine ranks the Aggies’ schedule as the fourth-toughest.
“It is what it is,” Fisher said of the schedule. “You either embrace it or you run from it. We know it’s going to be a tough schedule every year, so that’s what you’ve got to prepare to play. Living in the now and understanding and embracing tough games…in this league, when is it not gonna be tough? Tell me when it’s not.”
Returning to the crystal ball and the hopes of Texas and Texas A&M playing in the regular season, the opportunities don’t appear to exist. Future games under contract can be altered. However, the silliness of renewing the Aggies-Longhorns rivalry for a two-game home-and-home series hardly seems worth the trouble. If the series is resurrected, it needs to be on a more permanent basis.
The death of the Big Eight Conference ended the annual Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry. When the Huskers were in the Big 12, they played the Sooners home-and-home on a two years on, two years off basis. To celebrate the classic 1971 Thanksgiving Day game, the teams will meet again in 2021 (in Norman) and 2022 (in Lincoln). There is no clamor for more.
The Aggies’ departure for the SEC ended the annual game between in-state rivals. The last game (for now) was played on Nov. 24, 2011. The Big 12 and SEC are contracted for three bowl games so a post-season matchup appears the best bet for Texas versus Texas A&M.
I doubt a one-time rivalry renewal will satisfy either fan group. And a bowl game announced the first Sunday in December could unintentionally foul up a few wedding plans.
