Jessai Flores

As the Yale Bulldogs gear up for their first-round NCAA Tournament matchup against Texas A&M on Thursday, the fight isn’t just happening on the court — it’s unfolding online. 

Yale’s Barstool Sports account on X has emerged from dormancy to go toe-to-toe with the more established and much larger Barstool A&M, whose account boasts over 101,800 followers. The accounts have been trading memes, predictions and sharp-witted jabs ahead of the big game.

Barstool Sports accounts, affiliated with the sports media company Barstool Sports founded by Dave Portnoy, have become a cornerstone of college sports culture. They blend humor, rivalry and student engagement into an online presence that fuels school spirit. From memes mocking opponents to in-depth game analysis, Barstool accounts help shape the narrative leading up to big sports games like the looming clash between No. 13 Yale vs. No. 4 Texas A&M.

What started as lighthearted banter has turned into a full-fledged March Madness rivalry, fueled by Ivy League vs. SEC pride. A&M fans, wary after last year’s upset of No. 4-seed Auburn, are bracing for another potential bracket-buster, while Yale students rally behind their Bulldogs with unwavering confidence.

For Jake Knowles ’28, the online battle reflects a broader reality: Yale’s sports culture doesn’t come pre-packaged as it does at powerhouse schools.

“Barstool Yale is like sports culture with an Ivy League twist — sharp, self-aware and undeniably clever,” he said. “Unlike A&M’s Barstool, which thrives in an already sports-obsessed environment, Yale’s must carve out and sustain the culture.”

Knowles describes A&M’s Barstool as “playing on easy mode,” while Yale’s is “scrappy, smart and punches above its weight.” He sees this underdog mentality as a key reason why Barstool Yale has quickly gained traction after a leadership change over the winter break. The account has added nearly 1,000 Instagram followers in just three months, growing from 4,300 to over 5,200.

Despite its smaller following compared to Barstool Texas A&M’s, Barstool Yale has remained competitive by relentlessly posting content across Twitter, Instagram and Fizz, an anonymous social media app. All college Barstool accounts are run by appointed students called “viceroys,” who are largely anonymous. 

Unlike other Ivy League Barstool accounts, like Princeton’s, which focuses more on campus humor, Yale’s account leans heavily into sports. This emphasis has made it a rallying point for Bulldogs fans ahead of the tournament.

When Barstool A&M taunted Yale with a post asking, “Do you have any sharp-shooting white boys primed to be a March sensation on your team?” Princeton’s Barstool chimed in with some Ivy League camaraderie: “Get ready to learn Greek, buddy. It hurts.” The response referenced Yale’s Greek-American guard John Poulakidas ’25, who scored 28 points in Yale’s stunning first-round upset over Auburn last season. 

Knowles sees this as a prime example of how Barstool accounts amplify school spirit in places where athletics do not always take center stage. 

“It doesn’t just celebrate athletics — it gives [fans] a voice in a place where academia usually takes center stage,” Knowles said. “And let’s be honest, a little wit makes school spirit way more entertaining for a bunch of nerds.”

While Yale’s social media presence is still growing, Texas A&M’s online sports culture is deeply ingrained. Cole Horton, an A&M freshman who once considered attending Yale, praised Barstool A&M for building hype and turning even non-rival matchups into high-stakes battles.

“I think accounts like these and many others help intensify the environment before games, turning non-rivals like A&M and Yale into heated enemies for the few days before the game,” Horton said. “In my opinion, they are what makes SEC Twitter so great, and I think other conferences should follow suit.”

However, that intensity comes with anxiety. A&M has a history of heartbreak in big games, like last week’s 94-89 loss to their rival UT-Austin in round two of the SEC tournament, and Horton acknowledged the possibility of an upset. As of Wednesday afternoon, Yale over A&M is the most picked 13 vs. 4-seed upset with 23% of brackets favoring a Bulldog win,  according to a post by ESPN.

“So commonly have I heard: ‘We should win, but I would not be surprised at all to see the upset.’ It is safe to say that we will be tensely watching the game on Thursday,” Horton admitted, predicting a narrow 67-63 Aggies victory.

Kyle Londrie, the viceroy who is solely responsible for running the Instagram and X accounts for Barstool A&M, echoed that sentiment. 

“The overall vibe among the student body is one of nervousness about this matchup,” he said. “Some of that comes from A&M losing five of their last seven games. However, many people also remember Yale upsetting Auburn last year. It seems like there’s an Ivy League team causing chaos in March every year. A&M will have to fend off a Yale team that knows what it takes to pull off an upset.”

Londrie expects another close game, with A&M edging Yale 68-63, but acknowledges the Bulldogs’ 3-point shooting as a serious threat. “When A&M loses, it’s often due to allowing the opposing team to get hot from beyond the arc,” he noted. He hopes that A&M’s physicality will eventually “wear down Yale’s smaller lineup.”

Beyond the Yale vs. A&M media storm, the presence of Ivy League barstool accounts has grown in recent years, serving as digital student sections at times. Ivy League Barstool accounts have amplified school spirit, proving that even at universities where academics often take center stage, athletics — and the passion surrounding them — can thrive.

At Cornell, Barstool has played a key role in boosting support for women’s hockey, helping drive record-breaking attendance at games. Lydia Lekhal, who co-runs Barstool Cornell, noted the importance of these accounts in fostering school spirit, especially as Cornell’s women’s hockey team heads to the NCAA’s Frozen Four. . 

“Since taking over the account in December of last year, I have made multiple posts about our women’s hockey team, and I feel that it has gotten a lot of attention and really helped our student body go out there and support our female athletes,” Lekhal said. “Although I obviously can not say whether or not advertising their games was really the only thing that helped, I would like to think that it played a large role.”

Isaac Bernstein, a member of Princeton’s class of 2028, noted that the Princeton Barstool account helps students take a break from academics and bond over shared experiences, even if their sports engagement varies. 

“Looking at Yale’s, it seems much more sports-oriented,” he observed, noting the difference from Princeton’s more student-life-focused content.

At A&M, Diego Arroyo, a sophomore, called Barstool A&M “one of the funniest accounts out there” and an essential part of A&M’s identity. 

“A&M Barstool encapsulates students in college’s social life in a humorous way,” he said. His prediction? A&M wins big: 72-59.

As game day approaches, the online battle only continues to intensify. For Yale, it’s a chance to prove themselves both on the court and in the world of college sports social media. For A&M, it’s about defending their status and avoiding an upset that would make them the next target of online Ivy League banter.

Barstool Yale, however, remains unfazed. Their prediction: “Dogs by a million.”

For now, the online battle rages on. The real one tips off Thursday at 7:25 p.m. EST.