Texas A&M became the first college to reach 100,000 fans on Facebook, earning 100,000 pennies for the school.
LSU led the race by nearly 2,000 fans late this afternoon before the Texas A&M’s narrow victory.
BlueFuego, a higher education marketing group, sponsored the contest and will donate the pennies to Texas A&M. The school will choose a scholarship or fund to put the money toward, according to BlueFuego’s Web site.
“The Race to 100K is a way to encourage universities to continue growing their presence on Facebook and build affinity with their community on the Web,” Brad J. Ward, chief explosion officer for BlueFuego, said in a University news release.
The rivalry ignited when BlueFuego released a study in July that examined 1,035 higher education Facebook fan pages and determined LSU had the largest Facebook fanbase. The study found LSU became the first school with 50,000 fans on Facebook shortly after the College World Series, according to the news release.
As of 7 p.m., LSU had 100,177 fans while Texas A&M had 100,414.
 
—-Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]