Big 12 Realignment Update: Texas Longhorns Are Still Texas A&M's Daddy

Nobody dances the two-step better than Texas.

That much is clear now that the dust is beginning to settle in this Texas tornado of conference realignment drama.

After threatening to drive its big-money herd west to the supposed greener pastures of the Pac-10, the Texas Longhorns have decided to remain and compete in a slightly smaller Big 12 conference, according to Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott.

Both Texas A&M and Oklahoma have also reportedly decided to remain with Texas rather than explore options in either the Pac-10 or the SEC.

And in retrospect, should any of us really be surprised?

In a drama that featured a few major players throughout the country, the Texas media machine was able to paint its conference foes as the antagonists while its sleek burnt orange exterior went unscathed.

It politicked and it jumped from one foot to the other, all the while maneuvering itself into a position where it would come out on top of the wreckage no matter how the conference shake-ups came to pass.

It could have gone to the Pac-10 if Texas A&M had bolted to the SEC. It would have benefited just as much as it will remaining in the Big 12, maybe more. Not only that, but Texas A&M would have been the villain, single-handedly—according to Texas—responsible for destroying the conference.

And now that it is staying put in the Big 12, Texas is being treated as its savior.

Yes, in the end, the Texas Longhorns won the day. After recently expanding its stadium to 100,000-plus capacity, the program will now be searching for new ideas as to how to spend the next paycheck.

The program also made it very clear, in a resounding proclamation to the rest of the country, that they are the University of Texas and they own the Big 12. Not Oklahoma. Not Oklahoma State. And certainly not its in-state punching bag, Texas A&M.

All Texas A&M has done has further solidified itself within the stranglehold of the Texas Longhorns big-money empire.

The Aggies had a prime opportunity to show the country that they were no longer willing to play second fiddle to the Longhorns. Making the move to the SEC—and away from Texas—would have made it clear that the Aggies could reach their own ends without requiring an attachment to Austin, Texas.

It would have followed the blueprint for success put forth by SEC giant, the Florida Gators. When the Gators cut ties with in-state rivals Miami and Florida State, it created its own brand as the only SEC team within the state's recruiting hotbed.

The results have been obvious: two national championships in both football and basketball as well as a host of successes in other, less profitable sports.

This could have been the Aggies' future. Sure, there is the possibility that they could have caved under the pressure of the SEC. But there also the chance that they could have benefited from that individual brand as Florida did.

Instead the Aggies did as their other Big 12 peers did. They allowed Texas to call the shots, as they have done since the Big 12 was born. In doing so, A&M gave in to a plan that would net their neighbors more money and a personal television network while also maintaining their status as the strongest on-field team in the conference.

Sure, Texas A&M stands to make more money under the new deal than it did in the past. But at what cost has the program sold its independence?

How much rope will the Aggies relinquish to this raging bull before they realize that wrangling it in is no longer an option? That they are forever sealing their fate as the second-tier program in the state of Texas?

The Texas Longhorns are an empire in the college world comparable to the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Yankees, and they operated as such throughout the entire realignment proceedings.

That empire lied, it stepped over people, it prepared for every contingency, and in the end will walk away as winner.

The Aggie program, however, will stick to the same formula that put itself in this predicament and wonder, years down the road, where it all went wrong.

David is a member of the inaugural Bleacher Report Writer Internship program. You can follow David on Twitter for news, opinions and spirited discussion on anything sports.