Christian Alexander continues to connect at a 64-percent clip concerning his Thursday night selections. Get the lowdown on his Texas A&M-Texas selection by clicking on his pick pack!

Texas A&M (4-7, 2-5 Big 12) at #4 Texas (10-1, 6-1 Big 12)
Thursday, November 27
8:10 PM ESPN
Memorial Stadium (Natural Grass)
Sports.com Line: Texas -35, O/U 68.5

It was nice not to have to sweat it out last Thursday night. Thanks to the Yellow Jackets building a 24-3 halftime lead and a 41-10 third-quarter score, the outcome of my Georgia Tech (-3.5) play over Miami was never in doubt. That win pushes my Thursday night record to 9-5 (64%) on the year and with one game left, it sure would be nice to make it a 10-win season.

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Speaking of 10 win seasons, the Texas Longhorns have already accomplished that feat in 2008. This Thursday night, we’ll head down to Austin, TX to check out the Longhorns as they wrap up their regular season against archrival Texas A&M.

There is no question who has been the dominant program in Texas over the past decade. Texas has been favored by double digits over the Aggies in four of the last five contests, a rarity for intra-state clashes between two prominent football programs.

That said, it’s the underdog Aggies from Texas A&M who are currently riding a two-game winning streak in this contest. In 2006, the 11^th ranked Longhorns were upset by Texas A&M, 12-7, ending a six-game skid in the series and in the process knocking Texas out of the Big 12 title game. Last year was a much different game, but ultimately with the same result as Texas A&M outslugged the 13th-ranked Longhorns in a 38-30 victory.

And so we have to go back to 2005 to find the last time that Texas has defeated the Aggies. Of course, 2005 was a special season for Texas as they rode the talents of QB Vince Young to an undefeated season and a national championship.

Texas Tech ended any hopes of the Longhorns being perfect this season, but there is still plenty for coach Mack Brown and his program to play for this Thursday night.  The team with the highest BCS rank represents the South Division in the Big 12 Championship.

Oklahoma and Texas are practically in a dead heat coming into this weekend.  That means “style points” could very well determine who gets the nod, and thus who has a chance to possibly make the BCS Championship.

Of course, we all know that an effort to accumulate “style points” often leads a team to run up the score on their opponent and one can easily see that happening this Thursday night. When you consider that Texas has scored 40+ points in all but four of its games and Texas A&M has allowed 40+ points in every loss this season except for one, it’s not hard to envision Texas scoring at least 50 this Thursday.

The Aggies rank 113th nationally in total defense, and so the once feared "Wrecking Crew" defense is certainly a thing of the past. Defensive coordinator Joe Kines has been under a ton of heat lately, and you can be sure he isn’t happy to hit the road to face a Texas offense that ranks eighth nationally in total offense (471 yards per game) and sixth in scoring (43.4 ppg.).

Look for Texas QB Colt McCoy – the poster boy for the program who is also a finalist for a slew of postseason awards - to shred the Aggies with the help of multiple running backs and talented WRs such as Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby. Cosby has caught a pass in 41 consecutive games, and ranks second all-time at Texas with 186 receptions.

McCoy is an impressive 30-7 as a starter for the Longhorns, and with another win this Thursday night can pass the hero of 2005 – QB Vince Young - as the all-time leader at Texas in victories by a starting QB.

If anyone is thinking the Aggies have a chance to shock the world, just remember that the Longhorns have only lost three straight to A&M once (1991) in the 114 years these two have squared off.  Overall, the Longhorns are 73-36-5 all-time against their archrivals, including 45-11-1 at home.

Last five games in the Texas/Texas A&M series:

* 2007: Texas A&M 38 - Texas 30
* 2006: Texas A&M 12 - Texas 7
* 2005: Texas 40 - Texas A&M 29
* 2004: Texas 26 - Texas A&M 13
* 2003: Texas 46 - Texas A&M 15