The Rival Rundown: Texas vs. Texas A&M

September 9, 2009 Posted in Entertainment, Reality

Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

By Sara C

When you think of school spirit, it’s customary to think of stadiums awash in school colors, spine-tingling chants, and deep-seated hatred for the rival school’s (obviously) inferior traditions. But in Texas, “spirit” comprises all that and more. This week, while we examine the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University- College Station, we learn of traditions and campus lore as large as the Lone Star State itself. In a world of hand signals, slang, and centuries-old cheering teams, the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry pervades all nuances of life.

1. Mascot Matchup

Texas- Bevo the Longhorn, a particularly menacing-looking brand of cattle, is the pride of UT. The school’s colors, white and burnt orange, are an homage to Bevo’s hide. Bevo has made the rounds at several important functions, including the inauguration of President George W. Bush. Should you ever find yourself in conversation with someone from UT, say “Hook ‘em, horns!” and flash the Longhorn hand signal.
Texas A&M- The Aggies–short for agriculture, as per the school’s name–also have a catchphrase and hand signal. It’s commonplace in College Station to sign off by saying “Gig ‘em!” and giving the thumbs-up. Their official mascot is an American collie named Reveille, who is addressed by the student body as “Miss Reveille, ma’am,” since she is considered a Cadet General in the Aggie cadets.

Three credits to: Texas, where Bevo has the presidential seal of approval.

2. Terrific Traditions

Texas- The Hex Rally is held the week before the Texas-Texas A&M game, featuring performances by student organizations and a large candle-burning ceremony to unify the Longhorns before their most anticipated match up of the season.
Texas A&M- You’re not an Aggie unless you can sport your Aggie class ring. Awarded to seniors who have met certain degree requirements (and alumni upon graduation), the Aggie ring is the ultimate symbol of school pride and a networking device for life. Many believe the day an Aggie receives her ring is more sacred than commencement.

Three Credits to: Texas A&M, throw your (ring-adorned) hands up!

3. Lone Star Showdown Record

Texas - In the annual points-race competition between the two schools (where points are awarded for head-to-head match-ups or best Big 12 conference standing in each intercollegiate sport offered at both schools), Texas has taken home the title three times in the Showdown’s five-year history.
Texas A&M- The Aggies have won the Lone Star Showdown trophy for the past two years. However, despite an even tie last year between the schools, the title was awarded to A&M because Showdown rules dictate that in the event of a tie, the previous year’s winner retains the title.

Three credits to: Texas, for having three wins and a tie in the five-year event history.

4. Crowd-Rousing Cheers

Texas– Texas Fight, the official fight song of the Longhorns, is simple yet powerful. When the orange-and-white score, it’s time to throw up your horns and chant T-E-X-A-S TEXAS FIGHT!
Texas A&M- Instead of cheerleading, Aggies have Yell Leaders to pump up school spirit. The five-member Yell Leaders, a team since 1907, are comprised of three seniors and two juniors–traditionally all-male, because no females have yet been elected to the representative positions.

Three credits to: Texas, where the cheering is egalitarian (hey, this is a ladies’ website!).

5. Acceptance Rate Agony

Texas- 43.5% for the class of 2012
Texas A&M- 70.1% for the class of 2012.

Three credits to: Texas- the Longhorns by a long shot.

And the diploma goes to: Texas! They say everything’s bigger in the Lone Star State, and when it comes to this Southern rivalry, the Longhorns win big.

3996329 Comments2009-09-09+21%3A00%3A54Sara+C+-+Fordham on "The Rival Rundown: Texas vs. Texas A&M"

Maegan says:
Wed, 9th Sep 20092:59 pm

Quote: Texas A&M- Instead of cheerleading, Aggies have Yell Leaders to pump up school spirit. The seven-member Yell Leaders, a team since 1907, are comprised of three seniors and two juniors–traditionally all-male, because no females have yet been elected to the representative positions.

If there are 3 seniors and 2 juniors, wouldn't it only be five-members? And I'm pretty much it has been quoted, on ESPN, by the analysts that A&M has the best student section in college football.

Sarabeth - Universit says:
Wed, 9th Sep 20093:36 pm

i swear, at A&M, if it happens twice, it's a tradition.

it's a cult, i swear

Sarabeth - Universit says:
Wed, 9th Sep 20093:37 pm

oh and, texas fight isn't our official fight song.

we have a real song too

Erin says:
Wed, 9th Sep 20095:36 pm

A&M is one bigass cult. Everyone in the state of Texas knows this. I attend Texas Tech and I'm pretty sure we've began a much more competitive rivalry with UT than A&M. I can't even remember when the last time A&M beat Tech…

Erin says:
Wed, 9th Sep 20094:37 pm

Oops, begun*

sara says:
Thu, 10th Sep 20095:40 am

texas/ou is the biggest rival out of all of them!

Celia says:
Thu, 10th Sep 20096:03 am

I was born and raised in Austin, but attend an A&M System school, and consider myself a huge Aggie football fan. GIG 'EM!!!

And "Texas Fight" is actually called "March Grandioso", and is played by other schools as well. They're more well known for "The Eyes of Texas".

Sarabeth - Universit says:
Thu, 10th Sep 20098:50 am

sorry erin, but we still don't see tech as a rival. we see you guys as a cocky team who got lucky and needs to be taught a lesson.

OU and A&M are our official rivals.

Sarabeth - Universit says:
Thu, 10th Sep 20098:56 am

and to clear up the texas fight matter:

March Grandioso is where we say T-E-X-A-S Texas, Fight! Not the official fight song

Texas Fight is the one with Give 'em hell give 'em hell, go longhorns go!(or make 'em eat shit for those who don't care what the NCAA says) This one is our official fight song

Ryan says:
Sun, 20th Sep 200910:22 am

Erin, A&M beat tech in 2004. You were probably still in grade school.

And at least A&M has never been in this situation: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/…
and from what I've seen, Tech does not rank in the top 50 in any academic department. But, I'm studying engineering at A&M, so I may be a little biased.

Now that we have Tech out of the way, Let's focus on the article.

Mascots: Bevo comes to A&M for check ups and any medical procedures. Therefore bevo survives because of us. If Reveille barks during class, that class is dismissed as she is the highest ranking member of the corps.

Traditions: Sure the Aggie ring is important, but what does that have to do with TU? Bonfire beats hexing any day.

Showdown record: i want to know how that number is calculated.

Cheers: really? Kyle field is consistently seen as one of the loudest stadiums in the nation, and we have 25,000 less people in the stands as TU. We make the student side of the stadium sway.

Acceptance rate: People who are not smart enough to get into either school apply to Texas because they watched them play football and are a fan. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen someone walking around in a Texas shirt and thinking that there was no way he could have gone there.

Anyways, those are my thoughts.

Jamie Hale says:
Sat, 3rd Oct 200912:34 pm

I think OU and A & M should create a student exchange program. That way neither one of them could contaminate the rest of mankind!

Kyle says:
Tue, 13th Oct 20098:04 am

Hey Texas Tech, "Get your GRADES up"!

bthotu says:
Tue, 3rd Nov 20096:18 pm

THE TIME OF POWER IS BEGINING TO CHANGE THOSE AGS ARE BACK I HAVE A FEELING!!!!!!

Lubbuck high is a joke who in the hell would want to go smell oil feilds and cow shit why in school lmao!!!

I keep hearing that brown is going to retire at the end of 2009-2010

the new d-cord will be the new hc lmao fred akers all over again

IN 2000 I TOLD EVEYONE OU IS BACK THEY LAUGHED SAID THIS STOOPS SUCKS tu WILL OWN HIM I WAS RIGHT I'M HEAR TO TELL YOU I AM A COACH THOSE AGS ARE COMING BACK THAT KSU BEAT DOWN DID SOMTHING TO THAT TEAM IT PUT THE SPIRIRT THE FIGHT THE HEART OF AN AGGIE IN EM AND NOW THEY WANT TO BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA ANYONE WHO GETS ON THE FEILD WITH EM DON'T CUTT THIS DOWN IF THEY LOOSE AGAIN THIS YEAR LOOK AT OU SEASON IN 2000 AND THEN LOOK AT IT IN 2001 POINT PROVEN.WHAT WE HAVE SEEN THIS YEAR OUTTA A&M IS A YOUNG TALLENTED TEAM THAT HAD NOT FOUND ITSELF YET IF A&M WAS TO PLAY OSU AGAIN IT WOULD BE AN ASS KICKING FEAST tu YALL BETTER HAVE YOUR GAME ON WHEN YALL COME CALLING THIS YEAR TRUST ME I HAVE SEEN THIS BEFORE BACK IN THE 80'S ! A&M WAS THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE SWC ALL DURING THE 70'S IN THE 80'S TEXAS WAS KICKED ALL OVER THE FEILD ALONG WITH THE OTHER 8 BY THIS EAM AND TU keept saying the same thing no it ain't I SAY BS WATCHAND LEARN YOU CAN'T STAY ON TOP FOREVER!!!!!

bthotu says:
Tue, 3rd Nov 20096:58 pm

1 MORE THING PPL THAT ARE NATIVE TEXANS THAT LIVED HEAR BEFORE 1995 AND WHERE RAISED AND BORN IN THIS STATE 95% OF THEM ARE AGS I NEVER WENT TO A&M BUT I'M OLD ARMY TO THE CORE I REMEMBER WHAT tu DID TO THE SWC THEY COULDN'T COMPETE ANYMOE THEY WHERE GETTING THERE ASS KICKED SO THEY CALLED THE EX'S THAT WHERE WORKING IN THE NCAA AND AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER ALL THE OTHER 8 SCHOOLS WHERE INFRACTIONED FOR CHEATING BUT TEXAS HUH KINDA FUNNY KNOWING WHAT WE ALL NEW ABOUT DARREL ROYAL HE WAS THE BIGGEST CHEATER IN THE COUNTRY!! WAS NEVER PUTT ON PROBATION BACK IN 1998 TEXAS HAD A 38 YEAR OLD WHO HAD PLAYED FOR 4 OTHER SCHOOLS BUT NOT ONE DAMN THING WAS DONE IF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN TT BU OU A&M ISU NU KU KSU MU CU OSU THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN HUNG OUT TO DRY BUT NOT tu BECAUSE PROVEN BY WFAA CHANNEL 8 IN DFW tu HAS PPL WORKING THAT ARE EX'S IN THE NCAA DALE HANSON SAID "TEXAS HAS NEVER GOT IN TROUBLE FOR ONE DAMN THING AND THEY HAVE THE WORST TRACT RECORD IN THE NCAA AND IT IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE A SLEW OF PPL THAT ARE TEXAS EX'S IN THE NCAA" THAT IS BS" THIS IS THE REASON PPL WHO ARE OVER 35 AND NATIVE TEXAN FOOTBALL PPL WHO DIDNOT REALLY CARE ABOUT COLLEGE FOOTBALL BUT NOW HATE THE LONGHORNS!!! THEY WILL DO WHAT EVER IT TAKES TO KEEP THERE APPONENTS DOWN! JUST ASK A SOONER OLDER OKIES WILL TELL YOU THIS IS 100% FACT!!!I KNOW THIS POST WILL PISS OFF SOME SIPPERS BUT THE TRUTH HURTS AND SMU IS STILL FEELING THE WRATH OF tu THAT IS SAD!!I SAY LETS START A PATETION AND GET SMU AND TCU IN THE BIG 12 IT WILL BE THE BIG 14 OSU WILL GO TO THE NORTH WHY SMU AND TCU WILL BE IN THE SOUTH OH YA tu WANT LET THAT HAPPEN BECAUSE THEY WILL ONLY GETT RECRUTS FROM THE SHITTEST PART OF THE STAT THE AROUND AUSTIN AND SOUTH ON I35 SMU AND TCU WOULD OWN THE DFW METROPLEX AND THE PONY EXSPRESS WOULD BE BACK BUTT IT WOULD BE A NICE DREAM!!

Kewan Woodard says:
Sat, 21st Nov 20099:24 pm

U.T WILL TAKE OUT THEM AGGIE SON OF BITCHES!

bthotu says:
Sun, 22nd Nov 200911:42 am

ew now I'm a SOB .

t.u. kewan not ut due some studing you will see that the AGS got it right !!

TRUTH HURTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bthotu says:
Sun, 22nd Nov 200911:53 am

OH YA YALL MIGHT GET US THIS YEAR BUT LOOK IN THE FUTURE IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS IT FOR THE LIBS IN t.u land

lisa says:
Mon, 23rd Nov 200911:05 pm

a&m IS a cult. Only there does a dog rank higher than a human and has the power to dismiss class. And talking about cults the core is nothing but, one of my friends is in it and he got beaten several times, when i asked him what happened he said he wasnt allowed to say, and wen i asked him why he wouldnt quit he said because he would get to do this to freshmen next year…awesome aggie mentality. And either way you look at it, from a&m, ou, or ttech's point of view, deep down we all know UT is the better school, academically as well as in athletics, texas dominates. And to ryan, what does shirt wearing have anything to do with acceptance rate, we all know that ppl that dont get in to UT have to settle for atm or tech.

Cara says:
Wed, 25th Nov 20093:48 am

Texas Fight is not the same song as March Grandioso. It is our fight song, the one played before and after every game and immediately following every score in football. The Eyes of Texas is our school song and is played both before and after games.

Tori says:
Fri, 27th Nov 20092:04 am

Lisa, at least we at a&m know that it's corps not "core." we aren't talking about an apple.

thanks and gig 'em!

lisa says:
Fri, 27th Nov 200910:15 pm

ok tori thanks for that, but im glad u agree with everything else. hook'em!

bthotu says:
Tue, 1st Dec 20093:43 pm

My point proveen typical teeeeeeeeeeeeasip can,t state facts just bs your athletic program ranks one of the worst in academics in the nation all they do is smoke sh*t just look at Ricky williams!!! lmao

random guy says:
Wed, 24th Mar 201012:29 pm

OMG i hate atm, Texas is Pro Texas, where as ATM is anti Texas. Texas cheers for Texas to do good where ATM hope to destroy texas. If texas is in a Big game against another team atm wants texas to lose. and when ATM plays anybody out of state texas wants atm to win.

secondly WHY do you talk in caps, its retarded and annoying.

saratexasex03 says:
Mon, 29th Mar 20101:34 pm

He typed in all caps with numerous spelling errors because aggies have to have big bold letters to understand better!! DUH!! HE is too stupid to spell but hey what do you expect from an AGGIE?! HAHA!!

Aggie says:
Wed, 8th Sep 20103:27 pm

He said he never even went to A&M, dumbasses…

FUCK BEVO says:
Fri, 26th Nov 201012:55 pm

Fuck you cry baby t sip piece of shit. Have fun in your bowl game…oh wait you'll be at home jacking off to barack obama videos while your sister finger bangs your used up bloody ass hole!!!

FUCK BEVO says:
Fri, 26th Nov 20101:18 pm

Ya, its called what is best for my team. Fuck you and your burnt orange shit. Are you that fucking stupid to think that ATM's rival winning is a priority for us? You are dumber than vince young to fucking oxygen thief!!! Why dont you jack offs go pay a few more players to represent your joke of a school and while you are at it how about you tell your mom she is out of scotch and ill be over there to stump fuck her with a tree limb like usual!

fireman says:
Thu, 27th Oct 201110:43 am

your an idiot and are liberal fool.

fireman says:
Thu, 27th Oct 201110:43 am

how about this and last year.

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