Even with the SEC going to an eight-game conference schedule, it looks like the Aggies and Longhorns will indeed resume their football rivalry in 2024. But one thing that seems to very much still be up for debate is where that game will be played. Texas A&M Athletic Director continues to insist that the first game will be played in College Station, but his counterpart at Texas, Chris Del Conte, does not share that sentiment.

The odds are that this will ultimately be decided by the SEC, but what if the two schools refuse to budge? If we truly are at an impasse and neither team will accept playing the 2024 football game on the other’s home field, we may be forced to get creative to find a place to play.

Now we all loathe the normal neutral site matchups in soulless venues, so let’s assume that AT&T Stadium in Arlington, NRG Stadium in Houston and The Alamodome in San Antonio are off the table. Knowing that, here are some outside of the box options where the A&M/Texas rivalry can be renewed.

Rice Stadium

(Houston, TX)

If it’s good enough for Super Bowl VIII, it’s good enough for A&M/Texas. The 70,000-seat venue has decent enough capacity, an advantageous location, and with no luxury suites or retractable roof, has a greater chance of retaining some semblance of a true college football atmosphere than the traditional neutral site venues. And hey, it would actually be full for once.

Texas Motor Speedway

(Fort Worth, TX)

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Imagine packing more than 180,000+ Aggies and Longhorns into TMS for the renewal of this rivalry. The tailgating scene alone would be unlike anything college football has ever seen. Granted, the viewing experience for all of those fans would be atrocious, but it would certainly be a spectacle.

Cadillac Ranch

(Amarillo, TX)

Cadillac Ranch is an iconic Lone Star State backdrop for our most prominent college football rivalry. It also has enough space that temporary seating could be set up for a large number of fans, and is very accessible just off of I-40. Laugh if you must, but it checks a lot of boxes.

Great Strahov Stadium

(Prague, Czech Republic)

This venue, capable of fitting nine football fields inside of it, no longer hosts competitive sporting events anymore, just concerts. But if there’s one game worthy of reviving this place for sports, its the Aggies and Longhorns. Great Strahov Stadium only has a seating capacity of 56,000, but when you add in standing room on the fields not in use, could hold MORE THAN 200,000 spectators. While it’s certainly not conveniently located to either College Station or Austin, Prague is one of the world’s greatest cities, so it would be a great excuse for a European vacation with some Aggie football mixed in. Hit me up, Traveling Aggies.

Big Bend National Park

(Brewster County, TX)

Sure, you’d have to bring in the teams/equipment by boat. Sure, you’d have to divert the Rio Grande River and disturb a lot of native wildlife. But the setting is as Texas as it gets, and imagine the aerial shots of the teams taking the field while fans watch from all of the various canyons above. Iconic. Just be sure to bring your binoculars.

USS Lexington

(Corpus Christi, TX)

Is the flight deck wide enough to accommodate a football field? Actually no, but then this list is called “outside the box” for a reason. I’m sure there are ways to safely extend the flight deck temporarily. This one may be the most limited attendance yet, with really only enough room for the respective teams and staffs, but when you get a chance to say you played a football game on an aircraft carrier, you don’t say no.

ESPN Headquarters

(Bristol, CT)

Look, we all know ESPN is the one driving all of these decisions anyway, so why not just embrace the chaos? Heck they already have the lines painted in their courtyard. Granted, it a fraction of the size of a regulation football field, but strong-arming college football into doing whatever best suits their own needs is kinda ESPN’s thing.

A random pasture

Somewhere in central Texas

In the first season of Friday Night Lights, there is an episode where a train derailment/chemical spill near Dillion High School renders the team’s too hazardous to host a game. Instead of allowing the other team to claim homefield advantage, they work tirelessly to make a football field in a local farm pasture. There is no shortage of farm land between College Station and Austin, and paying homage to the TV series that coined the term “Texas forever” seems like a fitting way to resume this rivalry.