A likely goodbye

College Station - While there was no question who was cheering for each side of the Lone Star Showdown at Reed Arena, the one thing both Longhorns and Aggies fans cheered on was the idea of hopefully seeing each other again.

"I've had a lot of fun over these past four years going to these games and especially the Texas game every year," Aggie student Nathan Peterson said. "You have so much emotion going on and everyone's always fired up for it."

Peterson was one of hundreds of fans waiting in line for the doors to open at Reed Arena before the game. Longhorns fans also made the trip to College Station, like Austin's Justin Mechin.

"It's one of the best rivalries in all of sports," Mechin said. "It's just exciting every time they play each other."

Aggie senior Chris Tarnick said he was grateful he was able to attend both the final basketball game and football game between Texas and A&M this year.

"It's good to be here at the last one for a while, at least," Tarnick said. "I got to go to the last game at Kyle Field last semester too, and it's just a shame that it's coming to an end for a while."

Like the historic Thanksgiving 2011 football game which saw Texas win in the final seconds, the Longhorns escaped from the court in Aggieland in similar fashion, with a 70-68 win.

"It felt great," freshman forward Sheldon McClellan said. "I've been watching Texas and Texas A&M for a long time and it felt great to get the last victory at Texas A&M."

A&M junior Elston Turner had 20 points in the loss.

"We wanted to win, not just for us, but for the whole university, and students and former players and graduates for A&M," Turner said. "It was a big game. Not just for basketball programs but the two schools."

While many hope the rivalry continues, Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes had a different take-- one that made this game here in College Station seem like the last one here indefinitely.

"I really think a lot of Billy [Kennedy] and his staff, and I wish him well. But I said tonight after the game on TV, we could end up playing them in the tournament, but non-league-wise, we won't play them."