{"id":91605,"date":"2025-12-17T17:33:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/91605\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T17:33:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:33:24","slug":"texas-am-football-volleyball-both-make-their-national-moves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/91605\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas A&M football, volleyball both make their national moves"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLLEGE STATION \u2014 There’s a buzz at Texas A&M.<\/p>\n

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And it isn\u2019t just about the football team qualifying for the College Football Playoff berth in school history.<\/p>\n

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Volleyball also punched its initial Final Four ticket<\/a> in electrifying fashion.<\/p>\n

There are not many college campuses playing for football and volleyball national championships today. A&M’s 27-4 volleyball team, fresh off an incredible road upset of No. 1 overall seed Nebraska, meets Pittsburgh in a national semifinal Thursday while A&M’s 11-1 football team makes its\u00a0CFP debut at home Saturday against Miami.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas A&M players and fans celebrate winning the NCAA Division I volleyball playoff game against TCU, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in College Station, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

It’s the biggest sports weekend in Texas A&M history, no question.<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas A&M head football coach Mike Elko of the\u00a0watches players warm up before the game against the Samford Bulldogs at Kyle Field on Nov. 22, 2025 in College Station.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tim Warner\/Getty Images\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko walks the field ahead of the Lone Star Showdown against Texas at Darrell K Royal\u2013Texas Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas A&M players celebrate winning the NCAA Division I volleyball playoff game against TCU, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in College Station, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

MORE CEDDY:Should Texas football worry about Sarkisian leaving for Michigan?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a Venn diagram going around,\u201d volleyball coach Jamie\u00a0Morrison said during Monday\u2019s media availability. \u201cIt\u2019s been shrinking and shrinking of teams that are still eligible \u00a0(for national championships in volleyball and football) and we\u2019re down to one and I think that\u2019s a cool thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In the 44 years since the NCAA took over the national volleyball tournament, only two schools have won volleyball and football championships in the same season: Nebraska in 1995 and\u00a0USC in 2003.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Cedric Golden\u2019s newsletter<\/p>\n

Sign up for Cedric Golden\u2019s newsletter<\/a> for hot takes and expert analysis each Tuesday on Texas Longhorns football and beyond. \u00a0It’s called Ced\u2019s Corner, from the mind of the American-Statesman\u2019s resident sports columnist.\\<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0Aggies qualifying two teams make its three straight years that a school has pulled off this unique football\/volleyball double. Texas pulled it off in 2023 with volleyball defending its 2022 national title while football lost to Washington in the CFP semifinals. Last season, Penn State volleyball won the NCAA title while football fell to Notre Dame in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas A&M head football coach Mike Elko watches the NCAA Division I volleyball playoff game against TCU at Reed Arena on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025 in College Station, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Aggie volleyball shocked the nation but not themselves<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been almost three weeks since A&M football concluded the regular season with a loss at Texas<\/a>. College football followers correctly assumed the Aggies had qualified for the 12-team playoff with its historic 11-0 start despite missing out on a chance to play in the SEC championship game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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MORE AGGIES: How the Nebraska upset can spur Aggie volleyball in Final Four<\/a><\/p>\n

While the campus was abuzz with the opportunity to capture the first national championship in the modern era \u2014 the\u00a0Aggies won it all in 1939 \u2014 volleyball made national headlines by taking down a titan in the sport Sunday night.<\/p>\n

Anyone who witnessed undefeated Nebraska force a deciding fifth set with a marathon 37-35 fourth set win over the\u00a0Aggies before a packed house in Lincoln must have thought A&M had blown\u00a0a golden opportunity to unseat the 33-0 top seed.<\/p>\n

\"TCU<\/p>\n

TCU middle blocker Alexis Roberson (1) and outside hitter Becca Kelley (11) miss a block during the NCAA Division I volleyball playoff game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025 in College Station, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like we had just emptied the tank,\u201d senior outside hitter Logan\u00a0Lednicky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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That was, until the\u00a0Aggies found it from somewhere and powered through for the biggest win in program history. Morrison said pressure cookers like that fifth set are where his team thrives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s our superpower,\u201d Morris said. \u00a0\u201cIf you look across the net and someone else looks worried and anxious and you’re sitting there having fun, it makes them more worried and anxious. But I really do think we enjoyed every single minute of that, and I hope we continue to do it in the Final Four.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE CEDDY: Where Texas volleyball star Cari Spears got her competitive spirt<\/a><\/p>\n

A&M’s five-set 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 35-37-15-13 win\u00a0set to set up Thursday\u2019s national semifinal was the latest triumph in a successful calendar year on campus. The men\u2019s track team captured its fifth national outdoors team title in program history this summer while the women finished third.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns defensive tackle Travis Shaw (44) reacts to a false start against Texas A&M Aggies during the first half of an NCAA college football game in the Lone Star Showdown in Austin, Texas, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

Ricardo B. Brazziell\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Texas A&M has a\u00a0chance to make history<\/p>\n

While Morrison\u2019s players are just two\u00a0wins away to make history, their burlier campus brethren have taken inspiration from volleyball\u2019s amazing week in Lincoln into the biggest football game in school history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s the same mindset we try to have as a football program,\u201d Aggies football coach Mike\u00a0Elko said Monday. \u201cWe’re not trying to be defined by any outside opinions of who we are or what we’re capable of for the good or the bad. We’re not trying to be defined by outside measures of success and failure for a season. We believe in our culture. We believe in who we are. We believe in the program that we built and we’re looking forward for the opportunity to go out and compete for three-and-a-half hours on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This time last year, the 12th Man was still smarting from baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle leaving a national runner-up team for the school\u2019s most hated rival while football fell flat in the first game against the Horns in more than a decade.<\/p>\n

One year later, Aggie Nation has a chance to accomplish something rarely done, not even in Austin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both coaches pointed to the support from the administration as tantamount to what we\u2019re witnessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think all of that is culminating in the fact that the whole athletic department is trending in the right direction of being the most dominant sporting brand in the country, and I think that culminates in a lot of things,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cIt culminates in wins, it culminates in recognition for the university. And I think that’s happening as well right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s one of the biggest weekends in A&M\u00a0sports history.<\/p>\n

Many eyes are on College Station, including a few in the 512.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLLEGE STATION \u2014 There’s a buzz at Texas A&M. And it isn\u2019t just about the football team qualifying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11511,265,262,9602,4056,2163,35730,33567,27,19650,29298,29,537,536,1074,28],"class_list":["post-91605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-cedric-golden","tag-cfp","tag-college-football-playoff","tag-columnists-opinions","tag-kyle-field","tag-mike-elko","tag-ncaa-volleyball","tag-ncaa-volleyball-tournament","tag-texas","tag-texas-a-m-aggies-football","tag-texas-a-m-aggies-volleyball","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-football","tag-texas-longhorns-volleyball","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}