Getty Image / Tim Warner
The renewal of the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry has been a long time coming. After not meeting since 2011, the two heated rivals are set to face of on Saturday night in College Station at Kyle Field.
The game has seen huge demand for tickets, with entry to the game routinely hitting the four-figure mark for get-in price. But, the leadup to the game won’t see the renewal of a beloved Aggie tradition.
The Aggie bonfire dates back over 100 years, and was traditionally held the week of the annual game with Texas before the series discontinued. Hundreds of students would help build the huge bonfire stacks, and thousands of people would come watch it burn.
The tradition wasn’t without tragedy, however. In 1999, the bonfire collapsed during construction, killing 12 and injuring 27. The bonfire ceased to be university affiliated at that point, but came back as an unofficial event a few years later.
But, ahead of what should’ve been a much-anticipated bonfire, they’ve had to postpone it. Here’s The Battalion with more.
The 2024 Student Bonfire will not burn the night before the Texas A&M-Texas game due to a burn ban in Robertson County, the organization announced Tuesday afternoon.
Student Bonfire has traditionally burned the night before the football season’s last game, functioning as the last major tradition before the game. In recent years, LSU has been the major rivalry game, as Texas was not in the Southeastern Conference from 2012 through 2023.
A statement posted to its website reads, “The Robertson County burn ban remains in effect. Burn will be rescheduled for the [spring] semester, after Aggies have returned to school, and when it is safe to burn.”
The burn ban was adopted on Sept. 10 and has remained in effect since then. All outdoor burning is prohibited under the order.
“Robertson County references the KBDI for determining Burn Bans,” the statement reads. “On advice from the Texas Forest Service, burn bans in Robertson County are lifted when the KBDI falls below 575. As of November 26, the KBDI is 638. This represents a real and significant fire danger.”
This is just another gut punch for Texas A&M fans. Last week, on Saturday, they lost on the road to a poor Auburn team in four overtimes on a dropped pass to take some juice out of this weekend’s game. Now, they won’t even get their bonfire.
But, the 20th-ranked Aggies still have everything in front of them. A win this weekend and a win in the SEC Championship game will get them in the College Football Playoffs.