While fans on both sides of the Texas / Texas A&M rivalry bemoan its apparent but possibly temporary passing (it's the cryogenically frozen head of in-state football games!), the Aggies are set to interview for brand new team to hate when they enter SEC play this fall, which in that conference means A&M could find teams plaural to deplore and snakily call "classy" on various internet communities. Here's an early start: Remember this game, Aggies?
That's the "Snow Bowl," the nickname for the 43-41 overtime A&M loss to the Jackie Sherril led Mississippi State Bulldog in the 2000 Independence Bowl. State has decided to bring back their famous white helmets when the two teams play November 3 in Wade Davis Stadium. The white lids were introduced specifically for the 2000 bowl game to help players avoid confusion on the field between the dual maroon and white squads.
There's little in the way of a sleight to be perceived here, and while A&M's sure to find no shortage of teams to hate in the coming seasons, we doubt MSU will be high on that list. In addition to sharing official colors and troubled-but-fun tenures from the shyster Sherrill, the schools have a stunning amount in common - they're both land-grant agriculture institutions with game day traditions reflecting their agrarian roots, they're both fixated with hatred of their state's flagship liberal arts university (Texas, Ole Miss) and their oft-publicized college towns (Austin, Oxford).
Chances are, given a few years, the two schools will find as much kinship as possible for two division rivals, and eventually Rick Perry will appropriate funds to annex Starkville as a satellite campus.
For more Texas A&M talk, head over to I Am The 12th Man. Mississippi State news and info can be found over at For Whom The Cowbell Tolls, and all your college football news is at SB Nation's college football page.