The jump by the Sooners came about 17 hours after they won 61-41 at Oklahoma State, their sixth consecutive victory since the Oct. 11 loss against Texas in Dallas. Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech all finished with 7-1 marks in the South, which prompted the use of a tiebreaker. That came down to the fifth criteria, the BCS standings, where the Longhorns had led the Sooners up until the decisive poll.

Oklahoma now meets Missouri, which was declared the champion of the North Division after going 5-3 in conference play with losses to Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas.

After his team beat A&M, Brown accepted invitations to lobby for the Longhorns during telecasts of other games, including Oklahoma's victory against Oklahoma State. He touted the Longhorns' 45-35 defeat of the Sooners, and noted that his team's only loss came on the road at Texas Tech, which posted a decisive touchdown with one second remaining to triumph 39-33.

In addition, Brown advocated that the Big 12 use the BCS standings to narrow possibilities for a division champion, but not to make the absolute choice. The SEC and ACC, for example, use the BCS to drop the lowest team (Texas Tech, in the case of the Big 12), but then declares a division champion based on the head-to-head result.

Such a scenario, of course, would favor Texas, which at 11-1 overall remains a possibility for a berth in the national championship game depending on how Oklahoma fares against Missouri, and on how No. 1 Alabama fares against Florida for the SEC title.

Unfair? Probably. But Texas officials have only themselves to blame for not anticipating such a possibility and lobbying against the current tiebreaker system in previous Big 12 meetings. Expect their voices to be heard when conference officials convene in the offseason.

For now, the wait continues, something the Longhorns began after drilling Texas A&M.

"All you can do is really hope," defensive end Henry Melton said. "We tried to do all we could. I though we played well."

SEASON RECAP:

Texas 52, Florida Atlantic 10 -- QB Colt McCoy threw for 222 yards and rushed for 103 yards while producing four touchdowns as Texas routed Florida Atlantic before a record home crowd of 98,053. The UT defense allowed no points in the second half against the reigning Sun Belt champion.

Texas 42, UTEP 13 -- QB Colt McCoy completed 14 of his first 16 passes and finished with 282 yards and four touchdowns to guide Texas to a road win against UTEP. LB Roddrick Muckelroy led the Longhorns with 14 tackles and returned a fumble for the Longhorns' last touchdown.

Texas 52, Rice 10 -- QB Colt McCoy threw 13 consecutive completions at one point and finished 19 of 24 for 329 yards and four touchdowns while directing Texas past Rice. McCoy also led the Longhorns with 83 yards rushing on 13 carries as the Longhorns amassed 600 yards of total offense.

Texas 52, Arkansas 10 -- QB Colt McCoy threw for three touchdowns and rushed for two others while producing 269 total yards as Texas throttled Arkansas. Seven sacks keyed a stingy defensive effort by the Longhorns, who allowed just 11 yards rushing.

Texas 38, Colorado 14 -- QB Colt McCoy threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, while the Texas defense allowed just 49 yards on the ground and shut out Colorado for the first 41 minutes. The Longhorns recorded three sacks and their defensive front also deflected five passes while limiting Colorado QB Cody Hawkins to 13 completions on 33 attempts.

Texas 45, Oklahoma 35 -- Wide receivers Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley combined for 20 receptions, and Shipley returned a kickoff for a momentum-changing touchdown as Texas upset top-ranked Oklahoma in their annual showdown for Big 12 South supremacy. QB Colt McCoy completed 28 of 35 passes for 277 yards, while RB Chris Ogbonnaya added 127 yards rushing, including a 62-yard burst to seal the outcome.

Texas 56, Missouri 31 -- QB Colt McCoy completed 29 of 32 passes and set Texas records with 17 straight completions and a .906 percentage as the Longhorns throttled Missouri. Texas jumped to a 35-0 lead and not only preserved the No. 1 ranking it earned earlier in the week but was also placed No. 1 in the first Bowl Championship Series standings.

Texas 28, Oklahoma State 24 -- QB Colt McCoy completed 38 of 45 passes for 391 yards and broke the Texas career record for total yardage (9,232) as the Longhorns nipped Oklahoma State in a battle of Big 12 unbeatens. WR Jordan Shipley snagged a UT-record 15 receptions for 168 yards and one touchdown.

Texas Tech 39, Texas 33 -- The Longhorns rallied from a 19-point deficit to gain a one-point lead at Texas Tech with 1:29 remaining, but the Red Raiders threw a 25-yard touchdown pass from Graham Harrell to Michael Crabtree with one second left to pull off the upset. The loss was the first for the previously unbeaten and top-ranked Longhorns, who committed two turnovers and also gave up a safety on their first offensive play.

Texas 45, Baylor 21 -- QB Colt McCoy threw for 300 yards and five touchdowns, overcoming two second-quarter interceptions to as Texas thumped Baylor. The Texas run game also produced 194 yards as was led by redshirt freshman Fozzy Whittaker, who gained 77 on 15 carries in his first career start.

Texas 35, Kansas 7 -- QB Colt McCoy completed 24 of 34 passes for 255 yards, despite a chilly wind that gusted up to 31 mph. The Longhorns forced three fumbles and also recorded four sacks while hounding Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing, who engineered the Jayhawks' only touchdown after Texas grabbed a 21-0 third-quarter margin.

Texas 49, Texas A&M 9 -- Quarterback Colt McCoy completed 23 of 28 passes for 311 yards and added 49 yards on the ground as Texas walloped Texas A&M. It was McCoy's 31st victory of his career, a Longhorns record for a starting QB, but his first against the Aggies, who were limited to 245 total yards and minus-24 rushing.