Even though Texas A&M football fans are no doubt still upset about the result of this past year's Lone Star Showdown, you'd be hard-pressed to find an Aggie fan who is not happy the game itself is back. The Ags are hoping for a better result than that of this past year in 2025, but it will obviously be tougher to win on the road than it would be in the friendly confines of Kyle Field.
The Aggies have this as one of several prospectively tough road games on their schedule in the upcoming year. They also visit Notre Dame, Missouri, and LSU— all teams that were preseason top 10 last year and project to be tough matchups in 2025 as well.
Among the many dynamics surrounding this rivalry is the constant claim of a certain section of the Longhorn fanbase that this game is not as meaningful to their program as other rivalries, like Red River. It may be surprising, then, that ESPN took the tack that they did with this game.
ESPN claims Lone Star Showdown is season-defining for Texas, but not Texas A&M football
In a recent article from ESPN, the Worldwide Leader went through their preseason top 25 and outlined the most season-defining game on the schedule for each. Interestingly, they called the Lone Star Showdown a season-defining game for the Longhorns, but not the Aggies.
No, for Texas A&M, they called the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks— a heated rivalry, to be sure— the most important game. It's not that the game against the Longhorns isn't important, but that the one against the Gamecocks is more important.
This will no doubt set off some Longhorns, who can't handle the idea of not being the most important game on someone's schedule, but I think there's a lot of truth to it. Carolina is a big swing game for the Aggies with where it occurs on the schedule, and it is all but a must-win as a result.
For the Longhorns' part, their game against the Aggies could be their last shot at the playoff. What with difficult road trips to Ohio State, Georgia, and a two-game SEC trip earlier in the season, they could roll into that one with three or more losses.
Texas fans may not like it, but ESPN called it correctly here. It's honestly kind of refreshing to see.