Alabama to seat Texas band, fans in upper deck of Bryant-Denny Stadium in act of revenge
No. 3 Alabama will host No. 11 Texas in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night
Alabama is getting its revenge.
After Texas offered to put the Crimson Tide’s band in the upper deck of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for their matchup last season, Alabama is returning the favor.
Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne confirmed this week that the school is placing all 5,000 visitor seats and the Longhorns band in the upper deck of Bryant-Denny Stadium for Saturday’s matchup between No. 3 Alabama and No. 11 Texas in Tuscaloosa.
“We are able to reciprocate a similar seating arrangement to what we had last year in Austin,” Byrne told The Tuscaloosa News.
Alabama was going to send its band to last year’s matchup in Austin, which the Crimson Tide won 20-19 thanks to a game-winning drive that set up a 33-yard field goal. Yet after learning that Texas planned to seat the band in the upper deck of the stadium, Alabama decided to leave the band at home.
So to return the favor, Byrne found a section up high for the smaller version of the Longhorns band that will be attending Saturday’s game.
The SEC requires that schools provide at least 2,000 visitor tickets in the lower level of the stadium for conference games. The Big 12 requires a minimum of 2,500 tickets for visiting conference teams, though it doesn’t matter where those seats are.
Since Saturday’s game isn’t a conference game yet — Texas will leave the Big 12 for the SEC next summer — those rules don’t apply just yet. So fortunately, or unfortunately, this feud between the two schools will almost certainly end this fall.
Alabama rolled over Middle Tennessee State 56-7 in its season opener on Saturday. Quarterback Jalen Milroe went 13-of-18 for 194 yards and threw three touchdowns in the win. Texas beat Rice 37-10 in its season opener, where quarterback Quinn Ewers went 19-of-30 for 260 yards with three touchdowns.
