UT and Texas A&M Renew Football Rivalry Over Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend in Texas this year wasn’t just about turkey and pumpkin pie—it brought back a legendary football rivalry that hadn’t been seen in over a decade. On Nov. 30, Kyle Field turned into a battleground as Texas A&M faced off against the University of Texas, renewing a storied rivalry that had been on pause for 13 years.

The two Lone Star State teams last clashed in 2011 when both universities were in the Big 12 Conference. Texas A&M's move to the Southeastern Conference in 2012 temporarily sidelined this rivalry, which began in 1894. “The conflict has been quiet since the teams last clashed, in 2011, but many folks can recall a time when scant few Texans identified as anything other than an Aggie or a Longhorn (Even those who didn’t attend either school!),” wrote the Texas Monthly’s Texanist columnist. “Come Thanksgiving season, neighbors became less neighborly, friendships were friendship wrecked upon the shores of gridiron grievances, and family ties were left frayed, the Texanist is ’fraid to say.”

The 2024 Thanksgiving weekend football showdown between the University of Texas and Texas A&M not only brought a flood of memories for fans across the state but also highlighted the growth and impact of these two iconic university systems. While the game marked a thrilling new chapter in the storied Aggies vs. Longhorns rivalry, it also put the spotlight on UT and A&M as institutions that extend far beyond their main campuses in Austin and College Station. Both universities boast branch campuses, medical facilities, and other locations stretching from the Permian Basin to the Rio Grande Valley, across Texas’s major cities, and even to Washington, D.C., and Doha, Qatar. As the dust settles from the game, we take a closer look at the history of these storied institutions and what makes this rivalry so deeply rooted in the culture of the Lone Star State.

Let's take a closer look at each.

The Roots of Texas A&M and University of Texas

If Texas A&M and University of Texas have anything in common, except for a deep love of football, it would be that both schools took their time getting established.

“The two major university systems in Texas had slow and shaky beginnings,” writes the Texas Almanac.

The idea of the University of Texas came first, with a bill in 1858 establishing UT and setting aside funds to develop the university but the Civil War sidelined plans and it took 25 years for the first students to attend classes in Austin in 1883.

Texas A&M can trace its roots back to the Morrill Land-Grant Bill passed by the U.S. Congress in 1862 which granted Texas 180,000 acres of land to establish an agricultural and mechanical college. It took 14 years for the first class to open the school in 1876.

Each university is also home to a prominent presidential library, reflecting the rich political heritage and influence of these institutions. Texas A&M hosts the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, while the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library resides at UT Austin, showcasing the legacy of these influential leaders.

The two schools are located less than two hours from each other in Austin and College Station but there were other choices of where to locate the campuses, according to the Texas Almanac:

• Texas A&M Possible Locations Beside College Station: Kellum Springs, Piedmont Springs, and Bellville.
• UT Possible Locations Besides Austin: Waco, Tyler, Thorp Spring, Lampasas, Williams Ranch, Albany, Graham, Matagorda, Caddo Grove, and Peak.

Texas A&M University System

Texas A&M is one of the largest public universities in the nation, and one of the few to have land-, sea- and space-grant designations.

“Texas A&M University is always expanding to make a quality education accessible to as many students as possible. Our main campus is in College Station. We also have a higher education center in McAllen, a law school in Fort Worth, a government and public service school in Washington, D.C., a comprehensive health science center with various locations in Texas, and branch campuses in Galveston and Qatar,” says the university.

The Texas A&M University System comprises:

• Texas A&M Main Campus: The largest and oldest campus in the system at College Station is home to 70,000+ students with undergraduate and graduate programs through 16 colleges and schools.
• Texas A&M University at Galveston: This island campus provides marine and maritime programs. It offers 15 undergraduate and six graduate degree programs. The Galveston campus also includes the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, one of six state maritime training academies in the United States and the only one in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Texas A&M University at Qatar: Provides undergraduate and graduate programs in engineering. It also offers instruction in science, mathematics, liberal arts and the humanities.
• Higher Education Center at McAllen: Provides top-tier programs to fulfill student goals, enhance the region’s economic development and produce a skilled workforce. The education center, serving the Rio Grande Valley, offers nine undergraduate programs.
• Texas A&M School of Law: In Fort Worth, the Texas A&M School of Law is considered one of the top 30 law schools in the nation.
• Texas A&M University-Washington, DC: The Washington, DC campus, established in 2021, is an extension of the Bush School of Government and Public Service, whose main campus is in College Station. It offers graduate-level programs focused on careers in national security, diplomacy, and public service, while also providing resources for internships and professional development.
• Texas A&M Health: Texas A&M Health's five schools and numerous centers and institutes work together to improve health through transformative education, innovative research and team-based health care delivery. Texas A&M Health offers more than 40 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Campuses are in Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Kingsville, McAllen, Round Rock, and Temple.

University of Texas System

The University of Texas system has an enrollment of more than 256,000 students at academic and health institutions across the state, as well as an operating budget of $32 billion, making it one of the largest public university systems in the nation and the world.

“UT institutions are powerful drivers of economic and social mobility in Texas, producing more than 66,000 graduates annually, including more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees and about 63 percent of the state’s medical degrees,” says UT.

The UT system includes:

• The University of Texas at Austin: UT’s main campus is home to 50,000+ students, 3,000 teaching faculty, and top national programs across 19 colleges and schools including its School of Law.
• The University of Texas at Arlington: A 420-acre campus with state-of-the-art facilities in the DFW Metroplex where 41,000 students pursue in-persona and online coursework.
• The University of Texas at Dallas: A top value public university with more than 31,000 students across seven schools.
• The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP): UTEP is one of America’s leading Hispanic-serving universities, with 84 percent of its 24,000 students being Hispanic and more than half being the first in their families to attend college.
• The University of Texas Permian Basin: Campuses in Odessa and Midland with 7,000+ students.
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley: Campuses in Edinburg and Brownsville with 30,000+ students. Named as top Texas University for contribution to public good.
• The University of Texas San Antonio: More than 35,000 students across five area campuses, with nearly half being first-generation undergraduates in their families.
• The University of Texas at Tyler: Offering 52 undergraduate and 46 graduate programs across business, education, engineering, the arts and sciences, and the health professions.
• Stephen F. Austin State University: The newest addition to the UT system, this Nacogdoches-based school which opened in 1923, joined the UT System on its 100^th anniversary in 2023.
• UT Health Institutions: UT health institutions include The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Greater Houston area.