Why a Texas vs. Texas A&M Bowl Game Should Be Allowed

The energy it's taking Texas and Texas A&M to actively avoid one another is no longer worth it. The latest reports of finger pointing are tiresome.

The fact remains, however: There's only one way that the Longhorns and Aggies will play in football, either in the next month or in the foreseeable future, and that's in a bowl game. However, there's allegedly at least one person—but perhaps several people—pulling ropes behind the scenes to make sure even that doesn't happen.

Chip Brown of HornsDigest.com reported this week that the SEC is working to eliminate the possibility of A&M meeting Texas in the postseason:

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Two sources close to the situation told HornsDigest.com SEC officials have indicated to bowls with SEC and Big 12 tie-ins that the SEC won’t support a Texas vs Texas A&M postseason matchup. In short, A&M has too much to lose from a potential loss.

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Whether you believe a report coming out of Austin about the mindset in Birmingham, Ala., where the SEC is headquartered, is up to you. For what it's worth, A&M athletic director Eric Hyman has washed his hands of the notion.

"Quite frankly, that’s a decision made by the conference," Hyman told Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News. "It doesn’t matter if I speculate about playing this team or that team in a bowl. It’s out of our control. Wherever they tee us up, we’ll play."

There's a solution to all of this, of course. It's the solution the masses want but won't get: for Texas and Texas A&M to play every year.

There's no risk of uncertainty. Lose to your rival? Play it again next year and take back bragging rights. As ludicrous as it is, it's at least understandable that no one wants to be the team that loses last if the series has a cloudy future.

With that said, ego aside, there's one thing standing in the way of making Texas-Texas A&M a reality again: the fear of scheduling yourself out of a playoff appearance.

Take a gander at the Longhorns' upcoming nonconference schedules. Predicting future records is impossible, but games against LSU, USC and Ohio State are as close to sure things as you'll find.

Coupled with a nine-game, round-robin Big 12 schedule, where does A&M fit? For that matter, the Aggies have upcoming nonconference games scheduled against Clemson and UCLA.

In essence, both sides now have an excuse. It's not a good excuse, but it at least gives the appearance of one.

On the contrary, there's no excuse for Texas, A&M, the Big 12 or the SEC to try to work around a bowl-game matchup. Texas athletic director Steve Patterson has made it clear that scheduling A&M is not high on his to-do list and the Aggies have backed off of the "anytime, anywhere" stance.

This isn't the regular season, though. The Big 12 and SEC have already agreed to send teams to the Sugar Bowl in years when it does not act as a College Football Playoff semifinal. Both sides have worked together before.

In fact, the SEC and Big 12 should want a Texas-Texas A&M bowl to happen. Brown's report about A&M having too much to lose may be true, but it's not necessarily right. Texas isn't going to suddenly steal back the state if it beats A&M, just as A&M's move to the SEC isn't going to validated if it wins.

What happens in the postseason is one of the single most overrated things from which to draw conclusions.

Furthermore, bowl execs would love a Texas-Texas A&M game. It's good business.

There are essentially two games in which the pair could meet: the Liberty Bowl and the Texas Bowl. To take it a step further, it makes the most sense for two Texas schools to, well, play in Texas.

Nothing against those games—the Liberty Bowl has a rich history dating back to 1959—but they're in the middle of the holiday season on an especially jam-packed day of bowls. Any advantage a bowl can get in terms of a matchup or juicy storyline is important.

That means more coverage, more butts in the seats and more viewers taking in ads from title sponsors.

There's a lot to gain, but it also goes beyond dollars and cents. There's history at play.

"It’d be nice to play Texas, I think it’d be great just for the state," Aggies receiver Malcome Kennedy told Kate Hairopoulos of The Dallas Morning News. "Everybody wants to see that game. Nobody can deny they want to see that game, I promise you."

There may be fans on either side who pull the "I don't care" card, but there are thousands more who would travel to a nearby bowl game against a team they'd love nothing more than to beat.

Play the game. It'll make money and be fun for fans. In that order, that's what a bowl game aims to accomplish.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football.