COLLEGE STATION, Texas — It will be a battle of top 20 heavyweights when the No. 14 Texas A&M women’s swimming and diving team hosts No. 6 Texas in dual meet action at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
The Aggies are 4-0 in dual meets this year with a road win over Southeastern Conference foe Kentucky and home wins over North Texas, Miami (Fla.) and Incarnate Word, but the competition will be significantly tougher against the Longhorns. Texas has also compiled a perfect 4-0 record sweeping back-to-back double duals with No. 11 Florida and No. 9 Indiana. The three teams battled in a long course 50-meter pool one day and then competed in a traditional collegiate 25-yard short course the next day.
“It will be a battle of two really good teams,” Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. “There are very few events where you can say that one team has a huge advantage. Almost every race is up for grabs.”
Since the rivalry was renewed in 2013 the Aggies have won consecutive dual meets against the Longhorns – 152-148 in College Station in 2013 and 169-131 in Austin in 2014. The two teams were conference rivals in the Southwest Conference and Big 12 Conference until Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2012. The two teams were the class of the Big 12 Conference with either the Aggies or Longhorns winning every conference championship since 2000, which was Bultman’s first season in Aggieland. The Aggies won the Big 12 in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012.
“The rivalry still exists even though we’re not in the same conference,” Bultman said. “Many of our girls have been competing with members of the Texas squad for many years, so both teams are very familiar with each other and want to get to the wall first. Add in the fact that (Texas head coach) Carol (Capitani) and I coached with each other for three years (at the University of Georgia) and it makes for a very interesting competition.”
Texas A&M will carry a home winning streak of 11 dual meets dating back to 2013 into Friday’s competition. The Aggies, who have posted consecutive perfect dual meet seasons, are unbeaten in 26 consecutive dual meets – home and away.
BROADCAST INFO: The dual meet between the Aggies and Longhorns will be available digitally on mobile devices, tablets, PCs and connect-TVs for SEC Network subscribers whose cable/satellite packages allow access to SEC Network+ through the WatchESPN app and SECSports.com.
LIVE RESULTS: Fans can follow the action by accessing the live results link on 12thMan.com at:<http://www.sidearmstats.com/tamu/swim/TexasW2015/index.htm > or via Meet Mobile.
CSCAA Top 25:
- Virginia 225, 2. North Carolina 204, 3. Georgia 202, 4. Michigan 201, 5. Stanford 192, 6. Texas 190, 7. NC State 161, 8. California 144, 9. Indiana 142, 10. Auburn 140, 11. Florida 137, 12. Louisville 127, 13. Tennessee 121, 14. Texas A & M 118, 15. Penn State 80, 16. Southern California 66, 17. Duke 64, 18. Wisconsin 58, 19. UCLA 57, 20. Arizona 55, 21. Missouri 53, 22. Minnesota 46, 23. Purdue 40, 24. Ohio State 21, 25. Alabama 14
PROMOTIONS FOR #TEXvsTAMU:
- The first 50 fans will receive exclusive Aggie Swim/Dive Water Bottles
- Raffle: $50 Rudy’s Gift Card
- Raffle: Official TAMU Swim Dive Gear
- Raffle: Official adidas Gear (adidas climalite long sleeve shirts, Ladies adidas Track Suit, adidas Backpack)
Swimming news courtesy of Texas A&M Swimming & Diving.
