Texas vs. Texas A&M isn't moving to a neutral site, but Chris Del Conte prefers a Friday kickoff

HOUSTON — A corporate partnership announcement almost took an entirely unexpected turn when Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte was at the podium. While thanking Cotton Holdings Inc. for becoming the new title sponsor of the Texas versus Texas A&M rivalry, Del Conte dropped a bomb that only he knew was about to be let loose.

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“I think that I have the indubitable knowledge to tell you that it is going to be a neutral site game,” Del Conte said. “We’re going to move the game to Dallas one year, the next year we’re going to play — just joking!”

The unmeasurable tension was released as soon as Del Conte said “just joking.” Both he and his Texas A&M counterpart Trev Alberts reiterated during the announcement event that there is no intention on either side to move the game away from Kyle Field or Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on an alternating yearly basis.

They’re just happy to have the game back.

“It was a shame that this game wasn’t being played,” Del Conte said. “For it to be back, you grow up watching this game. This is the most important game in the state.”

The 2024 football contest will be played on Saturday, November 30 as part of the Cotton Lone Star Showdown rivalry series. A Saturday timeslot isn’t typical for the Texas vs. Texas A&M rivalry. The game was often held either on Thanksgiving or even the following day.

For a long time, Del Conte has said he prefers the game to be played in primetime on Thanksgiving. That changed in Houston on Thursday.

“You always want to go back to how it was,” Del Conte said. “We all think that. I think the Thanksgiving game, I’ve heard it from everybody that it was great. The reality is, a Thursday game used to be us and the Cowboys. I think Detroit had a game. Now, there’s three NFL windows.

“For me, if it was up to my druthers, I’d like to play it on Friday night. It’d be great. Unencumbered. You’re the only game and the only show when you think about it from coast to coast. A Friday night game would be spectacular. But this year we get to play on Saturday. I’m looking forward to sneaking into College Station. It’ll be a good time.”

To this point, Del Conte said there is no guidance coming from the Southeastern Conference on when future iterations of the rivalry might be. Texas knows it’s playing Texas A&M in Austin in 2025. When that game will be has not been released, nor have plans for future versions of the game in 2026 and beyond.

“It’s year to year,” Del Conte said. “It’s just important that we celebrate this year.”

When asked about if a move to a nine-game conference schedule would change things, Del Conte said “let’s just worry about this year.”

However, Del Conte and his Aggie peer will make sure this game continues.

“Not playing this game is not an option,” Del Conte said. “We’ve got to play this game.”

Nor is moving it from home venues.

“It was a joke,” Del Conte reiterated.

In a similar vein, Del Conte said there are no plans to move the Red River Shootout from the Cotton Bowl. Texas, Oklahoma, and the city of Dallas announced in December of last year that the annual football rivalry between the Longhorns and the Sooners will remain in the Cotton Bowl through at least 2036. All three parties plan to make extensive upgrades to the old stadium.

There’s no need to improve a neutral site venue for the newly-minted Cotton Lone Star Showdown, though Del Conte may need to find a new place to lay low if he goes back to the Brazos Valley after hiding in a cemetery while waiting to pluck Longhorn baseball head coach Jim Schlossnagle from the Aggies’ grasp.

“Not going back to Snook anytime soon,” Del Conte joked once again.

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But in even years, the Longhorns will be heading to College Station and in odd years the Aggies will venture to Austin to play football, and that’s no joke