Las Vegas began blooming on the Nevada desert nearly a century ago thanks in part to the building of the Hoover Dam, and now Texas A&M coach Mike Elko hopes his program’s holidays sojourn to the bright lights on the sand helps bring a similar mushrooming for the Aggies.

Texas A&M football plays USC for the first time in decades Friday in the Las Vegas Bowl. A ninth win would be quite the punctuation mark for Mike Elko's first year as head coach for the Aggies. Former head coaches Jimbo Fisher and Kevin Sumlin, Elko's predecessors, accomplished a nine-win season a total of four times.

Despite a midseason quarterback change, the Trojans still have plenty of offensive weapons that the Aggie defense will need to take note of.

Texas A&M's 2025 recruiting class features some of the best high school athletes in the country, including four-star linebacker Noah Mikhail and four-star Edge Marco Jones, two of the top defenders out of California.

Fans may gain an early look at Texas A&M’s 2025 defensive line when the Aggies suit up for the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl versus USC on Friday, Dec. 27.