Texas converts traditional Texas A&M rivalry rally into TCU rally

That’s from last year, at what was supposed to be from the last-ever Texas hex rally.

Since the hex rally began in 1941, it’s been tied to the annual game against Texas A&M (though occasionally against others too). But now that A&M’s in the SEC, it’s up and tied to TCU, which was either in the Mountain West or Big East last.

It’s about hexing all non-Texas things, you see.

Here’s what all this is about:

On Thanksgiving Day in 1941 UT was to travel to College Station to take on the Texas Aggies. Texas A&M was having a banner season. Undefeated and ranked second in the nation by the AP, the Aggies had already won the Southwest Conference Championship. They also had a jinx on the Longhorns.

Since 1923 - for 18 years - the Longhorns had been unable to win a game at Kyle Field. Desperate to break the College Station “jinx,” UT students consulted Madam Agusta Hipple, a local fortune teller. She instructed the students to burn red candles the week before the game as a way of “hexing” the Aggies and putting a stop to the jinx.

Through the week of Thanksgiving, Austin shops found it difficult to keep red candles in stock. Candles were burned in store windows along the Drag, in the fraternity and sorority houses of west campus, in the lounges of University residence halls, and in the windows of Austin homes. Madam Hipple knew what she was doing! By uniting the football team and its fans with such a visible show of support, how could the Longhorns fail?

And lo and behold the Longhorns won! Texas went to College Station, defeated the no. 2 ranked Aggies 23 - 0, ended the 18-year jinx, and restored their pride as the AP’s final poll listed Texas as number 4.

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