Texas A&M did a lot to distance itself from the Big 12 — and Texas especially — this past offseason. But it may all be for naught if the Longhorns and Aggies square off in the Cotton Bowl this January.

The Cotton Bowl, which pits a team from the Big 12 against one from the SEC at Cowboys Stadium, would likely sell its soul to get Texas and Texas A&M in the same stadium.

The 7-2 Aggies have taken the SEC by storm, their only defeats coming to a pair of Top 10 teams, Florida and LSU, by a combined eight points. Texas A&M freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel has racked up 3,449 total yards this year, the second most in the country, and is leading an Aggies squad that is much better than the one that Ryan Tannehill commanded last year.

But that’s no reason for Texas not to want to see Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas, on Jan. 4.

Whether or not the Aggies would admit it, they would probably love nothing more than to get another crack at the tea-sipping Longhorns who stole a victory away from them last Thanksgiving on their home turf. A date with Texas in the Cotton Bowl — where the Longhorns were humiliated by another rival, Oklahoma, last month — would give them that golden opportunity.

“I haven’t even thought about it,” junior guard Mason Walters said. “We just have to beat Iowa State this week. That’s what we’re focused on. If we take care of business, it doesn’t really matter how the bowl game plays out. We’ll try to win this next game and keep on rolling.”

Oddsmakers would almost certainly make Texas A&M the favorite in such a matchup, but the Longhorns should be salivating for another chance to put the Aggies in their place. There’s no way they’d say it on the record, but there has to be an unhealthy hatred for Texas A&M still brewing in many of Texas’ players.

“I haven’t [followed Texas A&M],” head coach Mack Brown said. “Needless to say, I’ve been overloaded. I haven’t read a lot in the paper or watched a lot of TV.”

So what if the Longhorns were supposed to lose? They were supposed to lose in Lubbock last weekend and we all know how that turned out. What better way to show the world that Texas football is back than to beat Texas A&M — again — at the Cotton Bowl

Would it be greedy of the Longhorns to want one more shot at proving their superiority over the Aggies? Probably. But that’s what a rivalry is all about. And rivalries like that are what college football is all about.

Printed on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 as: Cotton could set up Texas-A&M rematch