Aggies-Longhorns set to renew rivalry as SEC releases 2024 opponents

The Texas Longhorns will return to Kyle Field in 2024, but the reunion of arch-rivals might not be Texas A&M’s most intriguing home football game that season.

On Wednesday night, the Southeastern Conference announced the eight conference opponents each team will face in 2024 when the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma join the league.

The Aggies will play five of their current annual opponents but won’t face Alabama and Ole Miss.

As expected, the A&M-Texas series will resume for the first time in 13 years. Before the series was interrupted in 2011, the game was traditionally played on Thanksgiving night.

There was no indication whether or not the game will resume on Thanksgiving. Official dates and times for each matchup will be announced at a later date.

The last time the two traditional rivals clashed, the Longhorns posted a controversial 27-25 victory in A&M’s last game in the Big 12.

A&M officials wanted to continue the series, but then-Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds opted to cancel. He also encouraged all Big 12 teams not to play A&M in any sports.

Dodds was quoted in the Daily Texan — the University of Texas’ student newspaper — that Texas would decide when the series would resume.

"They left," Dodds was quoted in March of 2013. "They're the ones that decided not to play us. We get to decide when we play again. I think that's fair.

“If you did a survey of our fans about playing A&M, they don't want to. It's overwhelming. I know. I hear it. Our fans are important to us. I think there's got to be a period where things get different. I think there's too many hard feelings.”

Though Dodds said Texas fans did not want to play A&M, in the last several years, Texas officials and fans campaigned to resume the series.

While A&M was playing SEC teams like Alabama, Auburn and LSU annually while also scheduling national non-conference opponents like Clemson, Colorado, Miami and Notre Dame, Texas desperately needed to upgrade its home schedule.

The Longhorns’ biggest game against Oklahoma is played in Dallas. Their biggest home games were typically against Texas Tech, Baylor or Oklahoma State.

Texas officials frequently used the media to try to pressure A&M to resume the series. However, A&M’s position was that the Aggies had moved on and were content with their upcoming non-conference schedules.

But when news surfaced at the 2021 SEC Media Days that Texas and Oklahoma would be added to the league, it was inevitable the Aggies and Longhorns would play again.

Though the clash is the most anticipated game, it may not be the marquee game on A&M’s 2024 schedule.

The Aggies also play SEC games at Kyle Field against LSU and Missouri, as well as a non-conference home game against Notre Dame.

LSU and Notre Dame both finished the 2022 season ranked among the top 20 in national polls.

A&M travels to continue the SEC series against Auburn, Mississippi State and Arkansas. The Aggies will also face Florida for the fifth time since entering the SEC in 2012.

The series with Florida is tied 2-2 with three of the games played at Kyle Field. The Aggies prevailed 19-17 in 2017 in their only previous game in Gainesville.

A&M’s eighth SEC game is against Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.