December 02, 2007
Texas A&M University (7-5) has accepted an invitation today to be the Big 12 representative in the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday, December 29 at 7:00 p.m. CST in San Antonio's 65,000-seat Alamodome.
"We look forward to welcoming the history and tradition of the Texas A&M Aggies to San Antonio to play the Penn State Nittany Lions," said John Yantis, Valero Alamo Bowl Chairman. "The 1999 Alamo Bowl match-up between Texas A&M and Penn State filled the Alamodome with a record crowd and over 6 million viewers in ESPN. We are excited to again have the opportunity match two tradition-rich universities in the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl. "
TICKET INFO |
| GAME: |
| Saturday, Dec. 29, 7 p.m. (CST) Alamodome (65,067), San Antonio Texas A&M allotment: 11,000 tickets |
| The priority ordering period ended Tuesday, December 4, at 5:00 p.m. At this time, Texas A&M's original allotment is exhausted. A percentage of Texas A&M's allotment has been held for students. Please check back on Friday, December 7, for updated information regarding the availability of additional tickets through the 12th Man Foundation. |
| STUDENTS: |
| Sold out, more information to be posted soon. |
| GENERAL PUBLIC: |
| purchase through Ticketmaster () |
Texas A&M will be making its third appearance in the Alamo Bowl with their first coming in the 1995 Builders Square Alamo Bowl when a sellout crowd of 64,597 watched the Aggies beat Michigan 22-20. Their second appearance came in the 1999 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl against Penn State in front of a standing room only crowd of 65,380 which ranks second in all-time Alamo Bowl attendance.
Interim Head Coach Gary Darnell will lead the Aggie football team. Darnell has served as the Aggies' defensive coordinator the past two seasons and has had previous head coaching experience at Western Michigan as well as Tennessee Tech. Darnell also served as an interim head coach at the University of Florida during his career.
"We are proud and excited to have earned the right to be selected for the Valero Alamo Bowl," said Darnell. "We are flattered the bowl chose our team to face one of the winningest programs in college football history. Our intention is to bring the same great Aggie Spirit to San Antonio that we had in our last game against Texas."
This year's game will be the 15th installment of the Valero Alamo Bowl and the inaugural game with new title sponsor Valero. Since 1995, the game has matched the Big Ten and the Big 12 Conferences. This combination has produced eight of the Top 20 most-watched games in ESPN bowl history and has averaged a 4.5 rating.
The last two Alamo Bowl games (Michigan vs. Nebraska and Texas vs. Iowa, respectively) currently rank as the #1 and #2 most-watched games in ESPN bowl game history and trail only the BCS and Capital One Bowl ratings overall.
"We're looking forward to welcoming the Aggies and Nittany Lions to San Antonio in the Valero Alamo Bowl," said Mike Ciskowski, Valero Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "In our first game as title sponsor, we're thrilled to have the opportunity to host two of college football's most recognized programs and continue to add to the Valero Alamo Bowl's track record of capacity crowds and top ESPN ratings."
"We are thrilled about playing in the Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio against a proud Penn State program and legendary head coach Joe Paterno," said Bill Byrne, Director of Athletics of Texas A&M University. "Our players and coaches have worked hard and I know our coaches and players are looking forward to the opportunity to play in this outstanding bowl. We have great support from our San Antonio Aggies and I know the 12th Man will be in the stands in the Alamodome on December 29."
Ticket prices for the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl are $32-$67 and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (210) 224-9600 or visiting www.ticketmaster.com. Fans can also purchase tickets at the Alamodome Southwest Box Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.