Texas vs Texas A&M: Which Team Will Be Better in 2012?

Sadly, one of college football’s greatest rivalries will come to an end this week. 

The Thanksgiving night meeting between Texas and Texas A&M will serve as the final chapter of a more than century-old rivalry that has given fans plenty of both pleasure and pain.

The state’s oldest rivalry game will become one of the many casualties of the growing trend of conference realignment in college football. We now live in a day and age when profits trump tradition in college football, and the sad fact is, this matchup won't be the only prestigious rivalry game we lose.

With Texas A&M moving to the SEC next year, it will be interesting to see if the Aggies’ much-talked about exodus actually turns out to be the right move for the short-term.

Joining the SEC, a conference that has produced the last five national champions and currently has the three top-ranked teams in the country, certainly sounds like a challenge.

It’s hard to tell whether this Texas A&M team can actually find early success in the SEC, when you consider that the Aggies severely underachieved this year, and also, that they’re set to lose their offensive corps of QB Ryan Tannehill, RB Cyrus Gray and WR Jeff Fuller after the season.

Texas, on the other hand, will return one of the top offensive weapons in the Big 12, RB Malcolm Brown, however, it’s going to be up to the coaching staff to make sure that they properly develop young freshman signal-caller David Ash and bring him along at the proper pace.

Both teams will experience their fair share of tough losses, with Texas A&M feeling the pain most on the offensive side of the ball, while the Longhorns will be sad to see defensive stalwarts like Emmanuel Acho, Keenan Robinson and Kheeston Randall all go.

Both teams will still have enough up-and-coming talent to stay competitive, given the way that they've both recruited recently, but it doesn’t look like either of them will be competing for a conference championship in 2012, let alone a national title.

Both teams know that 2012 isn’t exactly shaping up to be a banner year for either, which is why this game takes on a whole new level of importance.

The Aggies know that the SEC waters are going to be treacherous, especially when they first jump in, but getting a win over the Longhorns this weekend could really give them the proper momentum they need as they prepare to exit the Big 12.

Texas A&M certainly won’t have an easy transition to the SEC, though, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Texas gets to say “I told you so” for the next few years.