Confused Californian Asks: Why Is A&M Our Rival?

[Lam Dinh]

40 minutes ago, caliHORNia said:

Do you have kids?  Graduating 2011 odds are 50/50.  If you have multiple kids you know you don't split your love when the 2nd one comes, you find more love.

So it is with Rival Hate.  Once you accept them as your Rival, your hate will double like a gift from god.

Haha, I do have kids and now you got me thinking about how I can better allow my hate to grow and develop so that hate is not a zero sum game. This is why OTF is the greatest community 🙂

[Austalgia]

Confused Californian asks why is A&M our rival? 
 

Recency bias Texan answers: Because they stole our runining back recruit. 

[Lam Dinh]

Sark not being phased by the Aggie War Hymn was most likely because he didn't even recognize what the Aggie War Hym was.

Sark has spent most of his life in California and out of Texas, and that war hymn is not recognized by anyone outside of the state of Texas.

Do I know the Michigan fight song? Yes (thank you EA sports). Do I know the Ohio State song, unfortunately that has been imprinted in my head after years of ESPN. The Oklahoma song, again, unfortunately yes its' beat is undeniable.

The "Aggie War Hym"? I couldn't pick it out of a lineup, and obviously neither could Sark 🙂

[TexasMDcoach]

On 7/9/2025 at 9:42 PM, Lam Dinh said:

I appreciate the history of the two schools and it makes sense that A&M was more a threat in the 90s. My point is just that if we are truly one of the blue bloods of college football, we can’t let a program whose biggest accomplishment came prior to World War 2 to still suck this much oxygen out of the room when discussing Texas football. We should be talking way more about Georgia and Alabama, then care about what goes on in college station. 

As one who grew up in Texas I definitely get why A&M is considered a rival, but having lived out of state  the last 30 plus years I also agree with your perspective as well.

[horns96]

8 hours ago, Lam Dinh said:

Sark not being phased by the Aggie War Hymn was most likely because he didn't even recognize what the Aggie War Hym was.

Sark has spent most of his life in California and out of Texas, and that war hymn is not recognized by anyone outside of the state of Texas.

Do I know the Michigan fight song? Yes (thank you EA sports). Do I know the Ohio State song, unfortunately that has been imprinted in my head after years of ESPN. The Oklahoma song, again, unfortunately yes its' beat is undeniable.

The "Aggie War Hym"? I couldn't pick it out of a lineup, and obviously neither could Sark 🙂

He's played a game as Texas HC in Collie Station.  He knows the Aggie War Hymn.

[MBHORNSFAN]

I consider ou sucks our #1 rivalry 

[kirktex]

On 7/9/2025 at 6:59 PM, Bobby Burton said:

Historically, A&M has always been a rival to Texas, or since I was born at least. Texas was always big brother and A&M typically had the Napoleon complex.

If you’re raised in Texas and of a certain age, your parents or grandparents, etc., would tell “Aggie jokes”. And the Aggies were always the butt of the jokes.

 

This is fact. I still remember old timers telling Aggie jokes as a kid. Fun times 

[FriendswoodGangsta]

You grow up next to Aggie families.  Sometimes family members decide to go to the other side.  Sometimes because they got into one or the others schools.  Sometimes uncles, aunts, brothers.  Rarely do you know a sooner family, at least when I grew up, they didn't exist.  Usually Aggie families are totally Aggie.  Kinda country, and they spend every hour of their lives hating and saying stupid jokes about Longhorns only they see as humorous.

To not get it is crazy to me.  Its a little brother that fights back and you love and hate at the same time.  And it is not a horrible school by any means.  And... It has taken many of our children that were turned away at Texas that wouldn't have been 20-30 years ago.

I have a daughter at both.  At least where I was from in South Austin, you only hated OU once a year, and you couldn't wait to hammer the Aggies, and they couldn't wait to play you either.  Watching it with your extended family at Thanksgiving time was a big deal, and going was bigger.

Pac 10 schools rarely came up in Texas, and nobody really knew where those were either.  You never/rarely watched them unless it was a massive game.

Edited 16 hours ago by FriendswoodGangsta

[harveycmd]

I've said it before. We need to cut off the criminal sooners as our "rival." Stop playing them every year. They won't be able to recruit Texas. They'll be where they belong as Arkansas State. Send them straight to purgatory where they belong. We need legitimate home grown rivals like LSU, Georgia and Florida.

Edited 13 hours ago by harveycmd

[Roysterr]

In my 20's , Texas went 1 - 9 against Aggie.  That's hate