Another season of college football begins for Texas A&M on September 5th in Houston. The opponent will be Arizona State, and based on the preseason rankings, the Aggies should be underdogs.
The season preview magazines started popping up in early June, and none of the five I've examined -- Athlon, Lindy's, USA Today, ESPN and The Sporting News -- have very high expectations for A&M, probably because their schedule is another typical SEC meat grinder. In the SEC West, the Aggies play two consensus Top 10 teams (Alabama and Auburn), and they add consensus Top 20 opponents LSU and Arizona State. Four of the five magazines place Ole Miss in the Top 20, with Arkansas on three lists and Mississippi State on two.
Texas A&M is ranked 20th by Athlon and 23rd by Lindy. USA Today has them at 55th. Lindy and ESPN project the Aggies will finish 4th in the SEC West; the other three have them at 6th or 7th. USA Today predicts a mediocre 6-6 regular season record, and the ESPN power index forecasts 8.3 wins.
South Carolina and Vanderbilt should be winnable SEC games. Adding those to likely wins against Ball State, Nevada, and Western Carolina would give A&M five Ws. Arkansas and MSU will probably be tossups, and A&M needs a sweep to secure a winning 7-5 record. After that, the big question is this: How many upsets can they pull off, if any?
Other pressing matters include the following:
The season preview magazines started popping up in early June, and none of the five I've examined -- Athlon, Lindy's, USA Today, ESPN and The Sporting News -- have very high expectations for A&M, probably because their schedule is another typical SEC meat grinder. In the SEC West, the Aggies play two consensus Top 10 teams (Alabama and Auburn), and they add consensus Top 20 opponents LSU and Arizona State. Four of the five magazines place Ole Miss in the Top 20, with Arkansas on three lists and Mississippi State on two.
Texas A&M is ranked 20th by Athlon and 23rd by Lindy. USA Today has them at 55th. Lindy and ESPN project the Aggies will finish 4th in the SEC West; the other three have them at 6th or 7th. USA Today predicts a mediocre 6-6 regular season record, and the ESPN power index forecasts 8.3 wins.
South Carolina and Vanderbilt should be winnable SEC games. Adding those to likely wins against Ball State, Nevada, and Western Carolina would give A&M five Ws. Arkansas and MSU will probably be tossups, and A&M needs a sweep to secure a winning 7-5 record. After that, the big question is this: How many upsets can they pull off, if any?
Other pressing matters include the following:
- Can Kyle Allen show marked improvement at quarterback?
- Can the receivers eliminate their habit of dropping catchable passes?
- Will John Chavis make an immediate impact as defensive coordinator, or do the problems go a lot deeper than coaching?
- Will Sumlin continue what he began late last season, and incorporate SEC-style running game elements in his offense?
No comments:
Post a Comment