John Holcomb: Cowboys Didn't Win Big 12, But What A Ride

So the crazy, storybook ending with the Cowboys hoisting a Big 12 Championship trophy didn't quite happen.

But what a ride just to get there.

Texas was the better team in Arlington and may end up being the national champion. The Longhorns are deep, fast and talented and are playing with an edge not seen consistently in years.

Their fans never really let Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark say perhaps everything he wanted to say during the postgame trophy presentation, the boos rained down from the burnt orange faithful.

And a colleague from the Texas radio crew told me Yormark mispronounced Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian's last name. When he told me how he thought it was said I told him that sounds like a combination of the last names of former Notre Dame head coach Ara Parsegian and Kim Kardashian and the word carcinogen.

Regardless, it was Texas' day.

OSU head coach Mike Gundy talked a lot in the postgame news conference about how proud he is of his players for sticking to the day-to-day preparation the right way, in the bad times early and the good times late.

Now those players have a few much-needed days off. There are finals to study for, and a bowl game with Texas A&M in Houston in three and a half weeks.

There is also the transfer portal, opening on Monday for anyone who wants to jump in. Last season several Cowboys decided to move on and plenty of people questioned whether things were falling apart in Stillwater.

If some decide to leave this time around, last year's narrative shouldn't come into play again. Not after what this team has accomplished with one game to go.

Not with the conference coach of the year still at the helm.