Texas A&M and Oklahoma State will renew a Big 12 rivalry of sorts in this year’s Texas Bowl. The Aggies and Cowboys met annually from 1996-2011 as members of the Big 12’s South Division. Texas A&M leads the all-time series 17-10, but OSU has won the last four meetings.

The Aggies finished 7-5 on the 2019 season, while Oklahoma State finished 8-4. However, Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy isn’t letting those five Texas A&M losses fool him. He called the Aggies the best 7-5 team in the country.

“I think they are the best 7-5 team in the history of the NCAA in my opinion,” Gundy said Sunday in a teleconference for the Texas Bowl. “They have lost to No. 1; they have lost to No. 1; they have lost to No. 1; they lost to No. 4; and they lost to No. 12. That’s their five losses. They are definitely a top 20 team.”

Gundy knows the Aggies resume this season, but he hasn’t started watching film yet.

“I haven’t started watching tape on them. I watched them on TV a couple times. I know that they are very athletic. I know that their quarterback, he’s a third-rated quarterback in the SEC, only behind the Heisman trophy winner (Joe Burrow) and behind Tua (Tagovailoa).”

Oklahoma State’s old school head coach then reminisced about the Aggies being in the Big 12 before making the jump to the SEC.

“What do I miss (about Texas A&M being in the Big 12)? Well, when they jumped ship and Missouri left, you know, I thought that — I thought they were great fit in this league and I thought Missouri was a great fit, like Nebraska,” Gundy said.

“I’m very tradition, traditional. I liked the old Big 8, but the original Big 12 I thought was pretty cool.”

This will be the second season in a row that Oklahoma State has faced a former Big 12 program in a bowl game. Last year, the Cowboys beat Missouri in the Liberty Bowl.