BEVO BEAT

Longhorns and Aggies to reunite during annual clash of conferences

Posted May 28th, 2020

Danny Davis American-Statesman Staff

@aasdanny

This upcoming winter, a rivalry will be renewed on the basketball court.

Texas and Texas A&M will play during the 2020-21 season, the Big 12 revealed on Thursday. The meeting will be a part of the annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge. A date and time for the game have not been announced, but the showdown will occur in Austin.

According to a Texas source, the Longhorns will play a game in College Station during the 2021-22 season.

Texas holds a 62-23 lead in its series with Texas A&M. These basketball programs, however, have not met frequently since Texas A&M left the Big 12 ahead of the 2012-13 school year. Texas and Texas A&M haven’t played since UT recorded a 67-65 win in Little Rock, Ark., on Dec. 21, 2014. The Aggies last traveled to Austin in 2012.

“I am looking forward to being able to renew this great rivalry with the University of Texas,” longtime Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said in a statement. “To have the opportunity to represent our conference in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge against one of our traditional rivals is an honor. This is a great game for our team, and it will allow our players to be a part of the history of one of the best rivalries in all of sports.”

This past season, Texas A&M went 22-8 and was ranked 18th in the Associated Press’ final poll. An unranked Texas team compiled a 19-11 record.

Among UT’s returees will be Charli Collier, an all-conference honoree who averaged 13.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game during her sophomore season. Texas A&M forward N’dea Jones was also placed on her conference’s honor roll this season. As a junior, Jones contributed 11.0 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.

Read more: Once and future rivals, Texas’ Schaefer, A&M’s Blair share competitive DNA

While Texas and Texas A&M haven’t played in over five years, some familiarity exists among the two coaching staffs. New Texas coach Vic Schaefer was an assistant for Blair from 2003-12. Schaefer’s top assistant in Austin — associate head coach Johnnie Harris — also worked in College Station when Texas A&M won a national championship in 2011. Over the past eight seasons, Schaefer went 8-3 against Texas A&M as the head coach at Mississippi Sate.

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