A&M vs. LSU

This is the Cotton Bowl I was hoping for. A&M will play the highest ranked opponent of any bowl team in the Big 12, versus #10 LSU.

A&M vs LSU facts:

• First meeting between the teams was in 1899 (A&M 52, LSU 0).
• Teams have played 49 times
• LSU leads the series 26-20-3
• A&M is 10-4-2 when facing LSU in Texas, which includes games in College Station, Beaumont, Galveston and Dallas. The rest of the games have been played in Baton Rouge, except for a 1944 Orange Bowl matchup in Miami.
• The only post-season matchup between these teams is the 1944 Orange Bowl, a 19-14 LSU win.
• Harvey Williams, blue chip RB recruit from Hempstead, TX was an early commit to A&M in 1986, and shocked the nation by a last minute, signing day switch to LSU. Legend says he changed his mind after hearing someone sing the Aggie War Hymn in line at a McDonalds.
• The first game I ever attended as an A&M student was the season opener against LSU in 1987, a 17-3 Aggie loss. (A&M went on to win 10 of the next 11 games, including a 35-10 Cotton Bowl blowout of Notre Dame and Heisman winner Tim Brown. The only other loss that season was in freaking Lubbock, of course.)
  
• A&M won the last 5 meetings, from 1991 to 1995. Average margin of victory during that streak was 18.4 points.
  
• Greg Hill debuted vs LSU in 1991 as a redshirt freshman, and torched the Tigers for 212 yards in a 45-7 Aggie rout.
• A&M's closest game in 1994, outside of the embarrassing tie vs. SMU, was the LSU game, where A&M was trailing 13-9 with 7 minutes remaining in Death Valley, when Leeland McElroy scored the game-winning touchdown on an electrifying 59 yard touchdown run.
  
• 'Lectric Leeland McElroy had 359 all-purpose yards against LSU in 1995, including 229 on the ground, leading A&M to a 33-17 victory.
  
• LSU reneged on the home/home contract early (1996), after a five game losing streak to the Aggies, and still owes money to Texas A&M University for the early termination to the contract.