18 - Texas

At Texas A&M, they like to warn to the newcomers, especially those who might be squeamish about something like the building moving.

“Welcome to Kyle Field," the weekly press notes reads. “For those of you visiting for the first time, please do not be alarmed. The press box will move during the Aggie War Hymn."

If national championships were determined by the sheer number of traditions, then Texas A&M would be a perennial power.

It’s the home of “The 12th Man," Midnight Yell Practice (with more than 20,000 contributors), Silver Taps and Muster.

Football games feature the close marching of the Aggie Band, the cadets get kisses from their girlfriends after scores and the mascot is an American collie named Reveille (however, there’s no word on who Reveille might kiss).

As for the War Hymn, fans and students lock arms and sway, causing the upper deck to noticeably move. The rocking motion can be nearly as intimidating as the deafening cheers. Before “Mama called" for his return to Alabama, coach Paul W. “Bear" Bryant said: “Ten Aggies can yell louder than a hundred of anybody else."

It almost makes one wonder how they find the time to play football, but the Aggies have certainly done that as well.

In the Tuscaloosa News’ Best College Football Rankings, which will rate the Top 25 programs throughout the summer, Texas A&M scored points in seven of 10 categories. Its top showing came in number of active players in the National Football League, with 27 (tied with Nebraska for 13th place).

Bryant was the program’s most high-profile coach, and, after he left A&M, it took the program a decade to win more than four games in a season. From 1958-66, the Aggies went 25-59-6 and didn’t return to the postseason until future Crimson Tide coach Gene Stallings led them to the 1978 Cotton Bowl, where they beat Bryant and Alabama, 20-16.

But Texas A&M’s lone national championship came in 1939 under the direction of Homer Norton.

Despite an 8-3-1 showing in 1936, Norton’s teams had compiled a 22-23-6 record over his first three seasons. So he told trainer Lilburn Dimmitt to make a list of the best players in the state, and Texas A&M went on to enroll 37 of the “Wanted 40."

While piecing together an 11-0 title run, the defense yielded only 18 points during the regular season. It was capped by the Aggies coming from behind to edge Tulane 14-13 in the Sugar Bowl.

Texas A&M also won the Southwest Conference title in both 1940 and 1941, a three-year conference reign that would take 40 years to match by coach Jackie Sherrill and another 10 to be equaled by R.C. Slocum.

A&M has as many championships in the Big 12, which began play in 1996, as it does Heisman Trophies -- one. John David Crow became the Aggies’ lone Heisman winner in 1957, although fullback “Jarrin" John Kimbrough finished second in 1939 and many believe he was a better athlete than Crow.

Still, Texas A&M proudly boasts all state records and accomplishments against its biggest rival, which is unmentioned on campus but otherwise known as “TU."

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at (205) 722-0196.