Older LSU and Aggy fans, explain to me something about the series history

Special request by the State legislature -- they wanted to keep those inbreds on the other side of the Sabine at all costs.

In all seriousness though -- it was probably all about the $$ (at least once they stopped trying to pay us in Confederate War Bonds).

LSU wouldn't agree to a home and home with A&M then for the same reason A&M wouldn't agree to a home and home with, say, The Citadel now. A&M was a much, much different place in the 50s. It was fantastic, but it was a relatively small, all male, military and farming college.

Women were not admitted into A&M until 1963.

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So what you are saying is LSU has historically had the upper hand and still only has a 60% win rate?

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That is affirmative.

Texas fans will always dismiss this, but the lopsided nature of our series with them was run up mostly in the 30 years after WWII. They still had the upper hand before that, but from 1945 until 1974 they went 27-3. In that same period, LSU went 17-4-1.

Compared to LSU and Texas in that period, A&M was a small military school like The Citadel. Like the small eastern schools, we could do OK in the early part of the century. After the war, the game changed and favored larger state schools like Oklahoma, Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Texas, etc.

Once we made the switch to a more traditional model, and scholly limits were introduced, we could compete evenly. That's why the series with Texas is even after 1974, and why the series with LSU since then is 11-8 in LSU's favor, and 7-5 in ours before Sumlin slept through it.

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Why would A&M agree to come to Baton Rouge every year without a return trip?

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They knew LSU had the poors, so they thought they'd help a lesser soul with a charity game.

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I was looking at the LSU vs Aggy series history in Wikipedia to accurately respond to a troll thread... Classic...

But then I actually got genuinely curious about something:

LSU and A&M played an annual game against each other from 1942-1949, 1955-1956, and 1960-1975. They also played a bowl game in 1944. Excluding the bowl game in Miami, FL, this means that the Tigers and the Aggies met 26 times from 1942 to 1975... 25 of those games were in Baton Rouge, LA and 1 was in Dallas, Tx.

Why would A&M agree to come to Baton Rouge every year without a return trip?

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Here's the real answer for you. Up until the '80s, schools used to split the gate 50/50. So, if you're A&M, playing in a stadium half the size, which you have a hard time filling, you make more money by going to Baton Rouge every year than you would by playing home and home. Hell, Bear Bryant even agreed to play Rice in Houston every year (of course, the split between A&M fans and Rice fans at a game in Houston was probably 50/50).

A&M expanded Kyle Field to 70,000 about the time these 50/50 deals were ending, and at the time, LSU wasn't interested in playing in College Station. But, a few years later, they finally agreed to a home and home arrangement which lasted for 10 years, and, depending on who you believe, either ended because the SEC expanded and LSU didn't have space on the schedule, or because LSU lost five in a row.

It's always been a good series. It unfortunately ended back in the Nineties when the Aggies backed out of the contract. LSU has just never taken them seriously as a football school. But the rivalry seems to be heating up.

Regardless of the reason for it ending 25 years ago, I'm glad the series has returned to a home and home every year. It has all the makings of a great matchup going forward.

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They struck lighting with Vince Young, just like Auburn. Otherwise not a whole lot in 50 years.

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But, but, but...what about Cote's shoulder? They had that game won, no doubt. He could throw a football over the them mountains over there.

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Texas fans will always dismiss this, but the lopsided nature of our series with them was run up mostly in the 30 years after WWII. They still had the upper hand before that, but from 1945 until 1974 they went 27-3. In that same period, LSU went 17-4-1.

Compared to LSU and Texas in that period, A&M was a small military school like The Citadel. Like the small eastern schools, we could do OK in the early part of the century. After the war, the game changed and favored larger state schools like Oklahoma, Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Texas, etc.

Once we made the switch to a more traditional model, and scholly limits were introduced, we could compete evenly. That's why the series with Texas is even after 1974, and why the series with LSU since then is 11-8 in LSU's favor, and 7-5 in ours before Sumlin slept through it.

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Thank you. Interesting, never knew the history of A&M. I just figured they were always a larger school, even when they were all male.