The Lone Star Showdown: A Final Look at the End of the Rivalry

Texas A&M and the University of Texas have been playing for over a century. They have met 118 times and have been in the national spotlight on more than one occasion.

Both sides consider the other their most hated rival, which makes this in-state clash comparable to Michigan vs. Ohio State and USC vs. Notre Dame.

Earlier this year, the Aggies turned a dream into a reality when they closed a deal with the SEC and secured a move to the West Division. All Texas A&M sports teams will start in that division next season.

From the perspective of an A&M student, I can tell you there are many reasons—both logical and emotional—why this conference change occurred.

Financially, A&M will do much better in the SEC. With equal profit sharing and the new TV markets Missouri and the Aggies bring, everyone in the Southeastern Conference is going to get a lot richer. The Big 12—with its unequal sharing of revenue—created a sense of distrust that the university did not want to be a part of anymore.

The Horns really began to push the envelope with what was fair and what wasn't on the recruiting angle. Their new ESPN-based network planned on showing high school games, creating an unfair recruiting advantage. The university could potentially have "bribed" high school coaches by exchanging game time for the signatures of their top recruits. 

After the NCAA shut that down, UT pushed further and decided to start showing just highlights of high school games—which basically had the same recruiting advantages as showing full games. This time, though, there were no grounds on which to stop them.

A&M wasn't jealous of the network deal—the university was just frustrated that Texas was trying to take advantage of what was already a powerful weapon.   

On the emotional side, the Aggies wanted desperately to escape the shadow UT had cast for so long. Texas has long outshone A&M in most sports—particularly football—and this has made it difficult for the Aggies to achieve success in the gridiron.

From the Longhorn's perspective, the move was a stab in the back. Since their rival chose another conference, they want to make A&M pay for making such a "mistake". Their refusal to recognize that this is in the best interest of the opposing team has forced them to make sure the State Farm Lone Star Showdown never continues—or least doesn't occur again anytime soon.

For both universities, it is now a matter of pride. The Aggies have finally found a way to go out on their own and lose the "little brother" status that they have had for years. The Longhorns hate losing their most historic rival so much that they have decided never to indulge them again. Each side believes it's purely the other's fault.

And that is where they are both completely and utterly wrong.

This blame game has gone on long enough. Officials from both universities have become so blinded by their arrogance and self-worth that they have forgotten why they competed in the Lone Star Showdown in the first place.

As fans of the greatest sport in the world, we have to start taking responsibility for our university's actions. The loss of this rivalry is devastating to both sides—not just Texas A&M or UT. We must stop blaming each other, own up to what we have done, and start trying to figure out a solution to continuing the big-time matchup in the future. 

We all need to stop pretending like this is the bitter end and start acting like storied universities that we really are. This is not a competition to see who can "win" the blame game. This is the great state of Texas, where football is king, and we're both on top of the food chain. 

The continuance of this great rivalry should be equally important to both sides—not just Aggies or Longhorns—and everyone needs to start acting like it.