By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Devout Texas football fans (including my two brothers) are flashing the Longhorn hand sign Friday, celebrating their last laugh on the Oklahoma Sooners.

Friday's final polls -- from The Associated Press and USA Today -- placed Texas ahead of OU.

AP: Florida, Utah, USC, Texas, OU

USA Today: Florida, USC, Texas, Utah, OU

(And the final score in my household: A very upset daughter who's a freshman at OU, but those two very pleased younger brothers who are Texas grads.)

The Longhorns had been the only team to beat Oklahoma this year until OU fell to Florida Thursday night in the BCS Championship game.

When Texas didn't make it to the championship -- and then defeated Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl this week -- Longhorns coach Mack Brown said his team deserved the No. 1 ranking.

No, it didn't.

But Texas still finished ahead of OU in the only polls that finally mattered at the end of the year.