Two local teams. Two top ten offenses. An extravagant venue. This is one of the few bowl games that works.

Texas A&M: With a new coach, a new conference and a freshman quarterback. The Aggies weren’t expected to compete in the SEC. Instead, they went 10-2, beat undefeated Alabama in Tuscaloosa and were arguably playing the best football in the conference by the season’s end. Johnny Manziel won the Heisman and had a hell of a year.

Oklahoma: Same 10-2 record. Opposite mental state. Oklahoma excited no one, lost to the two best teams they played and had an oft-heralded quarterback never make the leap forward. They could have reached the BCS Title Game without a few untimely turnovers. They could have a lost a couple of the last four games they won by a combined 16 points. The Sooners seem to have reached a plateau. A very high plateau, but a plateau nonetheless.

Master vs. Protege: Kevin Sumlin made a name for himself as Bob Stoops’ assistant at Oklahoma before taking the head coaching job at Houston. He looks poised to enact the same sort of revival Stoops did for OU at Texas A&M.

Recreational Prediction: Oklahoma invariably does the opposite of what I think will happen. I think Oklahoma comes out flat against a motivated Texas A&M looking to cap off a great season. Therefore… [Oklahoma +3]