A&M, Hogs renew series
OSU-Texas Tech series remains a possibility
OSU-Texas Tech series remains a possibility
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By Schuyler Dixon
Published: March 11, 2008
ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas A&M and Arkansas are renewing their rivalry and their ties to the Dallas area.
A series that dates to 1903 but has been dormant for 17 years will be revived at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium when it opens in 2009. The schools came to the construction site Monday to announce a 10-year contract with rollover clauses that could keep the neutral site game going at least 30 years.
The contract doesn't mean that Oklahoma State and Texas Tech won't be able to play at the new stadium in Arlington. The schools have been negotiating, but no details have been announced.
"We're still talking about it. We'd like to make a decision one way or another sooner rather than later,” OSU athletic director Mike Holder said. "It's taken longer to get a consensus than I had anticipated.”
The Aggies and Razorbacks played every year when they were Southwest Conference rivals, and every other season they would face SMU in Dallas, home to a strong alumni base for both schools.
The first break in those bonds came in 1991, when Arkansas left the SWC for the Southeastern Conference, losing to Texas A&M 13-3 in College Station on the way out. Five years later, the SWC broke up, removing SMU from the Aggies' schedule.
For both programs, the bonds will be re-established on Oct. 3, 2009, in the $1 billion palace being built by Cowboys owner and Arkansas alum Jerry Jones.
"We hope it lasts for a long, long time,” said Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long.
"One of the things that's extremely important for us … is to get back into Texas in recruiting,” said Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, whose new school leads the A&M series 38-24-3. "This will certainly help us to be able to go into young men's houses and tell them they'll be able to come every year to Dallas and play in the best football stadium in the United States.”
The Cotton Bowl, which is also moving to the new Cowboys stadium from the east Dallas facility that bears its name, never had to worry about a sellout when Arkansas was invited. And Razorback fans were famous for turning the SWC basketball tournament into a series of Arkansas home games at Dallas' Reunion Arena.
The stadium will have a listed capacity of about 80,000, with ticket allotments split evenly between the schools. The contract should guarantee each school $4 million to $5 million annually, Long said.
Oklahoman Staff Writer Mike Baldwin contributed to this report
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Sounds like a good reason for OSU to play there too. Not to mention the extra money and additional non-con home game that they would secure in years that Tech would have been a home game. Plus, never having to go all the way to Lubbock for a game.
Let's make this happen OSU!