If you needed one more reminder that the Lone Star Showdown is a living, breathing, trash-talk-powered organism, Texas fans delivered it on cue. Hours before kickoff, the Longhorn faithful greeted HC Mike Elko’s No. 3 Texas A&M squad with a word no undefeated team ever wants to hear.

“Preseason number 1 fans chanting ‘overrated’ as Texas A&M hits the lockers,” David Nuno posted on X on November 28.

But this wasn’t just random noise. It was planned and executed strategically. For the first time since 2010, Texas A&M was back in Austin, and Texas students lined up two hours before kickoff, spilling outside the northeast corner all the way toward the Moody Center. UT extended its student section as far as possible, stretching it around DKR like they were trying to choke out Mike Elko’s team with burnt-orange mind games. HC Steve Sarkisian didn’t need to say a word as the crowd was speaking fluently.

But noise isn’t all they’re up against. Texas A&M entered Friday sitting pretty at No. 3 in the CFP rankings, right behind Ohio State and Indiana, ahead of Georgia, and riding an 11-0 heater that includes a 48-0 demolition of Samford. Under the new 12-team playoff model, the Aggies are in first-round bye territory and one win away from Atlanta. And that win has to come in Austin. 

The Aggies’ second path to the SEC Championship evaporated when Ole Miss took the Egg Bowl. Now the math is simple. Beat Texas or stay home. It’ll be up to QB Arch Manning and his No. 16 Texas to put up a season-defining spoiler moment. A Longhorn win won’t get them to Atlanta, but it can drop a meteor on the CFP board and launch Texas up the bowl ladder while also justifying their “overrated” chant.

Texas has done this before. When the Longhorns knocked off the Vanderbilt Commodores earlier this season, fans rained “overrated” chants then, too. Because becoming the fastest team ever to fall from preseason No. 1 to unranked apparently comes with a side of sarcasm. This time, though, the jeers hit before kickoff, not after. The stage is already electric with the fuel poured early. But to understand why this rivalry feels volcanic again, there’s more you should know. 

What happened when Texas A&M beat Texas in 2010?

Before these two resumed hostilities, before realignment, before the 13-year detour, Texas A&M’s 2010 win in Austin was the last time maroon draped the state on rivalry weekend. And the Aggies were led by names that went from campus legends to NFL fixtures.

LB Von Miller headlined the show that year, dropping a wild stat line on Texas with seven tackles, three for loss, two sacks, and an interception. He went No. 2 overall, earned eight Pro Bowls, and collected two Super Bowl rings. Opposite him, new QB Ryan Tannehill launched his sudden rise from receiver-turned-signal-caller into a top-10 NFL pick with 35,000 career yards in his pocket. 

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And that’s what makes tonight different. Texas A&M is undefeated again. They’ve beaten Notre Dame, survived South Carolina, and led the country in record strength as top-25 in strength of schedule. They’ve appeared in eight CFP ranking cycles over 12 years but never reached the mountaintop. But if they beat Texas tonight, an undefeated regular season, an SEC title shot, and a playoff bye sit right there. 

Both teams know it. Both Mike Elko and Steve Sarkisian know it. And the fans have already started the first battle of the night with their lungs. And if the pregame noise is any sign, the actual game might shake the state harder than anything since 1915.