Stakes are high at Kyle Field on Saturday

When the sun rose on Stillwater, Okla., the Friday morning following last season's dramatic 38-35 Oklahoma State victory over Texas A&M, the conference spotlight had quickly shifted to the league's premier rivalry -- Oklahoma vs. Texas in the Cotton Bowl -- which was just more than 24 hours away from kickoff.

Sure, that Cowboys and Aggies game was fun. But eight turnovers? Neither team was begging to be taken seriously.

Neither team was ranked.

The Aggies returned a six-win team that just lost its first real test of the season. Oklahoma State was picked to finish fifth in the league and nearly lost to Troy at home weeks earlier.

You know what they say about hindsight.

Nobody knew it until months later, but the Big 12 race hinged on that field. Both teams shared a Big 12 South title with Oklahoma, one finishing higher in the division than ever (OSU) and the other having its best showing since 1998 (A&M).

There are no such problems this year. The stakes are monumental.

"It has explicit implications into who takes the early lead in the conference," said Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman. "It’s huge."

[+] Enlarge Thomas Campbell/US PRESSWIRETexas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill is 7-1 since taking over as a starter last season.Both teams are ranked in the top 10, and through three weeks both have looked deserving of top-10 rankings, 10-win seasons and hopeful BCS berths. This time, it's the undeniable game of the week in the Big 12, if not the game of the year.

"I don’t think you have to make a big deal," Sherman says of approaching a game of Saturday's magnitude. "You don’t have to beat it into their head. They hear things. They see things. They’re not stupid. They understand how important this game is for us."

Texas A&M has a new quarterback this time in Ryan Tannehill. Last year quarterback Jerrod Johnson, who wasn't his normal self in 2010 because of a bum post-surgery shoulder, pulled the Aggies even with Oklahoma State in the fourth quarter with a pair of pressure-packed touchdown passes. But he handed the game back to OSU with a costly interception -- one of his four on the day -- that set up OSU's game-winning field goal as time expired. Three games later, he had been replaced by Tannehill.

This year's Aggies, more sure of themselves after a late-season run to reach the top 15 and become a factor in the Big 12 race with wins over Oklahoma and Nebraska, is armed with an additional burden: A future in the SEC.

The voices questioning Texas A&M's seemingly imminent move to the SEC have grown loud, and the best way for the Aggies to silence them is to leave with a crystal bowl tucked under their arm.

"Thanks for this. Adios. Here's an S-E-C! chant for the road. See y'all in the Cotton Bowl."

Two games on Texas A&M's schedule will decide if that dream becomes reality.

This is the first. The second is Nov. 5 at Oklahoma.

Managing that pressure and expectation begins with preparation.

"[Players] feed off the head coach and the staff," Sherman said. "If the head coach and staff are tight and feel the pressure of the game, then the players certainly will feel the same thing. I think they have to see that we’re confident in our preparation and on game day that we’re ready to play."

Kyle Field will be rocking. A network broadcast audience will be watching. It's put-up or shutup time for the Aggies.

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Lone Star Showdown not short on stakes

Texas A&M knows how Texas feels. They've been there.

It's been a full decade since the Longhorns ended a season without a double-digit number in its win column. Texas A&M? They haven't seen a 10-win season since 1998.

Which, of course, has meant the spoiler tag has been more often pinned to the Aggies.

[+] Enlarge Brett Davis/US PRESSWIRETexas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill likes the way the offense is coming along. "We're playing a lot better, the offense is starting to gel and play as a unit," he said. Not so in what's been a wild 2010. Through six games, Texas A&M sat at 3-3. Texas was a healthy 4-2, fresh off a win over then-No. 5 Nebraska in Lincoln.

The Aggies haven't lost since. Texas is 1-4 over the same stretch.

They'll meet on Thursday, and with a win, Texas A&M is within a bowl win of a 10-win season.

"Just beating Texas--we haven't done that since I've been here -- is big in itself," said Aggies coach Mike Sherman, whose team already has wins over Big 12 powers Nebraska and Oklahoma this season. "We always talk about the next step, and each step -- as I told the players -- the consequence of winning is the challenge and expectations become greater and greater. If you don't beat Nebraska or you don't beat Oklahoma, then the significance of the ensuing games isn't quite the same. They put themselves in a position to be in a national spotlight, and this game Thursday night is huge for us."

A win could propel the Aggies to a berth in the Cotton Bowl for the first time since 2005 and finish the season with a six-game winning streak capped by no sweeter an opponent.

"We’re starting to play together. We’re coming together as a team. We’re playing a lot better, the offense is starting to gel and play as a unit," said quarterback Ryan Tannehill. "All those small things are coming together and making the team better as a whole. The special teams are playing great. It’s been a team effort and I think we’re playing as a team right now."

But while Texas may get its chance to prevent that from happening, their own string of losses has allowed that spoiler tag to still apply to the Aggies. A Texas A&M win ends Texas' season in November for the first time since 1997.

"It really comes down to a one-game season. We’ve played ourselves into this situation, some good, some bad. But we have played ourselves into this situation," said safety Blake Gideon. "It really does come down to this."

The Longhorns got their first win in over a month on Saturday, beating Florida Atlantic. Considering the history of the program, keeping that bowl streak alive is the only meaningful piece of the season to salvage.

These seniors would get to play another game, and they would like to. They feel like they’ve made some progress here at the end. The team’s hung together, and they did play well on Saturday," said Texas coach Mack Brown. "The other thing is Senior Day, beating your rival on Senior Day, your last game at home in your home stadium is very emotional."

But bigger for the Longhorns is a point Brown maintained throughout his team's skid. Getting back to Texas' winning ways next year won't be automatic, and getting that bowl bid this year could pay off next year.

"We would love to have the 13-to-15 practices for this young team to lead into spring practice," Brown said.

Young talents like quarterback Garrett Gilbert, linebacker Dravannti Johnson, receiver Mike Davis, a handful of offensive linemen and defensive back Kenny Vaccaro should all be contributors for the Longhorns for years to come. They'd be among the biggest benefactors of those valuable December workouts that not every team can use to their advantage.

The prospect looms, however, that the Longhorns could receive a bowl bid at 5-7 if not enough teams are eligible to fill 70 slots in 35 bowl games. Texas would be near the top of the list for bowl committees scrambling to fill a spot.

Texas A&M can't control that, but that doesn't mean they would enjoy beating Texas for the first time since 2007 any less.

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