HOUSTON — There was a time when Texas and Texas A&M fans never had to look at the calendar. They knew the Longhorns and Aggies would meet on Thanksgiving Day. Schedule your family gathering accordingly.
The two teams started playing on Turkey Day in 1900 and did so throughout most of the 20th century, a huge reason why it became a premier rivalry in college football. For years, families in Texas knew the Dallas Cowboys played in the afternoon and the Longhorns-Aggies would kickoff at night.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte and his Texas A&M counterpart Trev Alberts are both realistic when looking at the current NFL Thanksgiving Day schedule. But they also want to make sure this game is played every year for perpetuity.
Having the game on Thanksgiving weekend is more important than playing specifically on Thursday night, both athletic directors indicated Thursday. The NFL has three TV windows now on Thanksgiving Day. That leaves Black Friday or Saturday as realistic options for Texas and Texas A&M.
In this first season of the rivalry’s renewal, UT and A&M meet on Saturday, Nov. 30, at Kyle Field in College Station.
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“You always want to go back to how it was. We all think that,” Del Conte said. “I think the Thanksgiving game, I heard it from everybody. Oh, that was great. But the reality is it’s a Thursday game, it used to be us and the Cowboys. I think the Detroit Lions had a game, but there are three NFL (TV) windows now.
“So if it was up to my druthers, I’d like to play it on Friday night,” Del Conte said. “It’d be great, unencumbered. It’s the only game, the only show, you think about from coast to coast. A Friday night game would be spectacular. This year, we get to play on Saturday and I’m looking forward to sneaking into College Station, and it’ll be a good time.”
Legislators have even tried to force it into law. In November 2018, Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) filed a bill that would require the two teams to play every year on Thanksgiving Day. The bill ultimately died on the vine, but the sentiment was widely appreciated.
“I get a lot of feedback from fans from time to time, on a lot of topics, as you know. But the fans are excited I think that we’re playing Texas,” Alberts said. “It’s only natural. I would say there’s quite a few fans that don’t particularly love the other side, which is fine.”
What about future games? At this point, neither Texas nor A&M can say with 100 percent certainty that it will happen annually. The SEC is currently sitting on an eight-game conference model with rotating opponents for 2024 and 2025.
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A nine-game format would open multiple possibilities, including having three permanent rivalry games. However, it’s unclear how much ESPN would pay the SEC to add a ninth game. And with the College Football Playoff expanding to a 12-team format, there’s been a wait-and-see approach with how that could affect scheduling.
“Not playing this game is not an option. We’ve got to play this game,” Del Conte said.
Standing less than 10 feet away, Alberts said, “I don’t want to speak for Chris, but I want it to play every year.”
The only way that’s guaranteed to happen is the SEC forces it through or the league goes to the nine-game format. The latter is actually better for Texas as it would allow the school to play A&M, Oklahoma and Arkansas every year while rotating the remaining 12 teams over a four-year span.
In a nine-game format, every SEC football player would be guaranteed to play in every SEC stadium by the time they graduated.
“When you start getting into different scheduled models, many of us have more than one traditional rival,” Alberts said.
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