In a campus-wide vote Wednesday, the University of Texas student body came out in support of reinstating the Texas A&M-Texas football game.
With a total of 7,764 votes, 96.71 percent of students voted yes on bringing the game back, which has not been played since 2011, according to a tweet from Melanie Torre with CBS Austin.
The vote was pushed by Texas Student Body President Alejandrina Guzman and Vice President Micky Wolf.
“For generations, UT students enjoyed the Texas v. Texas A&M Rivalry game before it was stopped in 2011,” Guzman and Wolf wrote in a student-wide email sent Tuesday. “Now, you have an opportunity to help bring it back.”
In addition to the vote, Guzman and Wolf sent a survey to all Texas students to collect data to send to University of Texas president Greg Fenves and athletic director Mike Perrin.
The survey asked students questions such as why the rivalry should be reinstated and if students would travel to games against A&M in College Station among other Texas cities such as Houston or Dallas.
In an official referendum written by Wolf along with Kristen Moore, student government executive board member, listed items as to why the vote was being taken.
Texas Student Government stated it conducted the poll as the voice of the Texas student body, with its goal being to unite student leaders from both campuses to bring the game back.
In addition, the referendum cited Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp’s comments made in support of the rivalry to Texas Monthly in July 2017.
“I know a lot of people would like to see A&M play UT again,” Sharp said in the article. “Not the kids here necessarily, but a lot of the older alumni still ask about it.”
 With Sharp’s comments were published days after first-year Texas head football coach Tom Herman said at Big 12 Media Days he would like to see the Aggies appear on the Longhorns schedule as a marquee non-conference opponent.
When asked about the vote earlier this week, Herman was in support of the student effort.
“Any time the student body rallies around a cause, I think the powers that be listen,” Herman told the Daily Texan. “Now, the powers that be are in that position because they have to make decisions.”
Herman though, is uncertain when the game will actually happen again in the regular season.
Texas A&M student body president Bobby Brooks said his office has been paying attention to the vote and talks of renewing the rivalry.
“Frankly, I am glad that our students care about the decisions that our university’s leadership makes,” Brooks said. “SGA is and has been listening to those in support as well as those against, and I have been sharing these conversations with athletics and administration for months now. Issues of this size at Texas A&M require initiative from within the administration and the system.”
For the powers that be who make the decision to bring the game back will have to consider many options. The most basic variable is scheduling.
A&M already has home-and-home non-conference series scheduled with Clemson, Colorado, Miami and Notre Dame through 2024. With the Aggies playing in the SEC West, along with facing the likes of traditional SEC East powers Georgia (2019, 2024), Florida (2022) and Tennessee (2023) given the Aggies future schedules, it could take several years to schedule the game.
As for the prospects in Austin, the Longhorns have a home-and-home series scheduled with LSU in 2019-20, Ohio State 2022-23 and Michigan 2024, 2027. Texas will play a nine-game conference schedule in the Big 12.
Still, Texas has competed against multiple Power Five teams in non-conference play each of the past five seasons, showing the Horns are willing to ante up their schedule.
Texas Student Government concluded that its next step is to launch a campaign “Reinstate the Rivalry” and continue to work with students, alumni and both athletic departments to make the game come back for good.