Texas A&M AD Trev Alberts advocates for, predicts Texas rivalry game to stay on Black Friday

Once again conference mates, Texas and Texas A&M have played on two different dates in the SEC. Last season’s game in College Station brought a Saturday night showdown, one won by the Longhorns. Now, Austin hosts a monster showdown on Friday, with SEC Championship and College Football Playoff implications on the line.

So, what’s the rivalry’s future moving forward? We do know they will play each other every single season since the SEC is expanding to nine conference games. And according to Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts, the two will continue to face off on Black Friday.

“You have a lot of different factors,” Alberts said in a press conference. “I do anticipate it will stay on Friday. Chris (Del Conte) and I talked about this a little bit — what you really want, from my perspective, you want this game to be in a window where you’re like, it. We believe that this game, and it already is — when two teams who invest so much in football and this game means a lot to them — this is a rivalry that has a chance. You want that to be in a prime time window when the entire focus on the country is on those two brands.

“So, we’re excited that it’s in prime time, we’re excited that it’s on Friday night. We think it’s a perfect time. I would anticipate, unless there’s something significantly that changes with our television partner or even numbers of conference games in the future, but for right now, I think it fits really nicely Friday night.”

This game has been played all over the place throughout the years. We used to see Texas and Texas A&M on the field Thanksgiving night, back when they were members of the Big 12 and even the Southwest Conference. However, the SEC recently moved away from playing on the holiday due to the NFL’s presence.

Alberts and Del Conte appear to be comfortable playing on Black Friday in the coming years. Whether or not the prime time slot remains the main option, that’s for the SEC and ESPN/ABC to decide. Having more than a normal rivalry result on the line certainly helps.

Next season brings Texas back to Kyle Field, its second trip in three years. But right now, all the focus for the Aggies is on securing an undefeated season. Doing so will mean plane tickets are booked to Atlanta. While Steve Sarkisian‘s bunch is looking to make a late push for the CFP by beating the No. 3 team in the country.