Texas A&M football: University presidents want rivalry game back

Texas A&M football has not played Texas since 2011, and the school’s presidents recently openly admitted to instructing their ADs to get it back.

You’re probably tired of hearing the speculation, but that’s all we’re going to get until a definitive answer as to whether the Texas and Texas A&M football game will get back on the schedule comes to light.

The two teams haven’t played football since 2011, the year before Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the best football conference in the country. The Aggies haven’t looked back and are positioning themselves to compete for national championships with Jimbo Fisher able to bring Texas recruits to the only school in the SEC.

Still, most Aggies can’t help but see the missed opportunity from the past several years. While Texas was struggling for bowl eligibility it would have been nice to see the Longhorns on the gridiron and prove which program was trending in the right direction during this time.

Texas A&M wanted the game to continue even after we left for the SEC. Texas AD (at the time) DeLoss Dodds made it clear that would not happen, so it didn’t. Now with current Texas AD Chris Del Conte making futile attempts to play a home-and-home when they know the Aggies already have Power 5 non-conference opponents scheduled for those years, it’s clear there hasn’t been much progress getting the game back.

Though it seems closer than ever if you believe comments from the school presidents. A&M president Michael K. Young and Texas president Gregory L. Fenves recently told the Austin-American Statesmen they want the game back.

From the article:

"“It’s a storied rivalry of a hundred years or so,” Fenves said. “We’re supportive” of renewing it.Young said, “Absolutely. We have been from Day One,” since A&M joined the Southeastern Conference.Added Fenves, “We’ve told our ADs (athletic directors) to figure out a plan and bring it to us.”"

The presidents instructing their athletic directors to get the game back is news to most. However, both of them recognize the difficulty in scheduling.

"“You have to get the weekend that coincides and works together,” Young said. “It is complicated. Our schedules don’t match very well. They have non-conference games in the beginning; we have ours interspersed more throughout the season. All of this makes it very hard to schedule.”“There are some real practical and contractual issues with scheduling non-conference games,” Fenves said. “The SEC is different from the Big 12. We have non-conference games scheduled 10 years out.”"

Shockingly, Fenves makes an invalid point here. A&M has non-conference Power 5 games scheduled through 2027. It’s not only difficult from Texas’ side in that regard.

Not to mention, getting a home-and-home series should not be the goal. Either get the game back completely or not at all. No one should be interested in a two-game series.

If the presidents have indeed instructed their athletic directors to get the game back, we’re likely closer to having the game back than ever before. That’s progress, or not, depending on how you feel about the rivalry.

Jeff Shull is the Site Expert for the Gig Em Gazette on FanSided. Follow him on Twitter, and be sure to follow the Gig Em Gazette on Facebook and Twitter.