Howdy Vols,
First of all, welcome to Aggieland! I hope those of you who are traveling will have a safe and pleasant trip to College Station. The TexAgs link GigemAgs posted is a great in-depth resource as is SingleMalts post, but I wanted to address a few specific questions/comments in this thread.
Flying into College Station is going to be prohibitively expensive; you are paying for the convenience. Your best bet is to fly into Houston Bush Intercontinental or Hobby, although Austin is also an option. There is a reasonably priced service called
Ground Shuttle that runs Mercedes passenger vans between Houston airports and College Station, and they will drop you at the location of your choosing for an extra fee. Reservations can be made on their website and spots are limited, but this is an option for those not wanting the hassle of driving. Getting around College Station would still require a taxi or Uber/Lyft. Dallas is a bit longer haul which could mean a long day if you dont have accommodations near CS (and dont speed through any of the damn dinky towns on the south side of Dallas or you may end up spending much more money than you planned).
College Station hotels typically jack their rates up significantly for game weekends and many have a two night minimum. I would suggest looking for a room in the Woodlands (north Houston) area or Conroe. This will also allow you to
skip travel on Highway 290 which is under construction for 40 miles beginning at I-610 and is sheer hell to drive right now. The best route would be to come up I-45 to Hwy 105 in Conroe to Hwy 6 at Navasota. The trip from either location to College Station should run between 1-1.5 hours.
For folks who have mentioned staying in Galveston, be prepared for the most underwhelming beaches you have ever seen. Silt and sediment from river runoff also means the water stays murky most of the time. The Texas Hill Country is much more scenic. That said, its not all bad if you like the coast. For those that stay in Galveston or Houston and have time to kill, things to do would include the Galveston Strand District and the tall ship Elissa, Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston (not as good as the original), the San Jacinto Monument and Battleship Texas, Johnson Space Center/Space Center Houston, and the Houston Museum District. Some quick hit personal favorite restaurant recommendations include Gaidos (Galveston) and Top Water Grill (San Leon, between Galveston and Houston) and in Houston, Niko Nikos or Yia Yia Marys, Maxs Wine Dive, Taste of Texas, Eddie Vs, Vic and Anthonys Steakhouse, and The Chocolate Bar for dessert. Prices vary so consult the google. Dress just about anywhere in this neck of the woods is relatively casual.
For those looking for tickets, in addition to StubHub I would recommend checking out
Flashseats.com. I believe it is the official ticket service provider for A&M and the servicing fees can be a bit lower than other ticket sites. They also have a mobile app so you can have tickets transferred to your account and use your phone/app as your ticket(s) to get into the game. I doubt you will find many tickets in the visitor section here, but we pride ourselves on our hospitality so dont let that worry you. As long as you dont make a complete boob of yourself you should have zero problems inside the stadium or anywhere on campus (perhaps outside of an inebriated loud mouth student or two).
In addition to SingleMalts recommendations, good eats around College Station include Fargos or Kreuz Market (BBQ), Koppe Bridge (burgers), Fuego or Mad Taco (tacos), Chuys or Lupe Tortilla (Mexican), and Hullabaloo Diner (great breakfasts but way south of town and long waits). There are also plenty of good options in old Downtown Bryan.
As far as pre-game and game day activities go,
DO attend Midnight Yell and wear your colors. There will be a little ribbing from the Yell Leaders but it is all in good fun. Check out Northgate before and after and dont be surprised if someone buys you a beer. The same goes for food and drink at tailgates. These are spread broadly around the stadium, but the bulk will be set up near Reed Arena and in Spence Park (between Kyle Field and The Association of Former Students building). There is a Spirit Walk for the team, and you should check out the Aggie Band and Corps of Cadets step off from the Quad and march in (usually 1.5 hours before kick). Look for signs around the stadium for the pre-game event schedule. Feel free to say Howdy! to folks as this is the official greeting, and ask if you need directions. Folks on campus will be more than happy to help.
There should be plenty of good info on TexAgs for those looking for more information. Looking forward to what should be a physical, competitive, and probably close game; if our respective teams take care of business this weekend the atmosphere should be through the roof! Good luck against the Bulldogs and safe travels to all who are planning the trip next week. Gigem!