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Texas A&M found out Sunday that it will be spending the holiday season in Las Vegas.
The Aggies accepted an invitation to play in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 27 against USC. It’ll be a late kickoff, Eastern time anyway, from Sin City, with the teams kicking things off shortly after 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The Aggies are headed to Vegas
USC
️ Fri., Dec. 27
⏰ 9:30 PM CT
️ Allegiant Stadium
@espn #GigEm | @LasVegasBowl | #LVBowl pic.twitter.com/j7jF75Hq8C— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) December 8, 2024
Texas A&M went 8-4 this season under Mike Elko. Interestingly, the Aggies began and ended their regular season with losses to Playoff-bound teams. Texas A&M fell to Notre Dame in its season opener and lost to rival Texas in its regular-season finale. The Aggies also finished their regular season with 2 straight losses, falling in 4 overtimes at Auburn before the loss to Texas.
Following the season-opening loss to the Fighting Irish, Texas A&M reeled off 7 straight wins and fans were talking Playoff bid in College Station. But the Aggies lost 3 of their final 4 games, dropping the rivalry renewal to Texas for a spot in the SEC Championship Game, and that was the end of any Playoff hopes.
Instead, Texas A&M will settle for a trip to Vegas at Christmastime and a showdown with the Trojans, who suffered through an up-and-down 6-6 season under Lincoln Riley. On another interesting note, USC will end its 2024 season inside Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium, the very same place it began its season way back on Labor Day weekend with a victory over LSU.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
