It’s official – LSU and Texas A&M will square off in the 75th annual Cotton Bowl on Jan. 7, officials from the bowl announced Sunday night.
It is LSU’s first appearance in the Cotton Bowl since 2002 and fifth in team history.
“We formally announced Texas A&M last week and the phone lines started to light up like a Christmas tree,” said Rick Baker,president of the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. “With the announcement of LSU and the game now being a sellout, I couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate 75 years.”
LSU and Texas A&M faced each other for the first time in 1899 when the Aggies won, 52-0. LSU leads the all-time series between the teams, 26-20-3.
“Once it looked like we were out of the running for a BCS bowl game, we turned our attention to Dallas and getting into the Cotton Bowl,” Alleva said. “This is the bowl that our players and coaches wanted to play in. Dallas is a great city with a strong LSU following and to play in the 75th anniversary of the game will be something special.”
LSU (10-2, 6-2) finished the season No. 10 in the BCS standings and No. 11 in the AP rankings. Texas A&M (9-3, 6-2) is No. 17 in the BCS and No. 18 in the AP poll.
“I’m excited and I know that our players are excited about this opportunity. Texas A&M has an outstanding program and we are looking forward to renewing our longstanding rivalry with them,” said LSU football coach Les Miles.
LSU has sold out of its allotment of 12,500 tickets for the Cotton Bowl, and Brian Broussard, assistant athletic director for ticket operations, said ticket requests totaled more than 15,000.
The Cotton Bowl will be broadcast at 7 p.m. on FOX.
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Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected].