Stewart Mandel's take on A&M
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:40 pmStewart, I've heard lots of different things about Texas A&M this year. What do you think are the Aggies' chances to win the Big 12? Or how about to just beat Oklahoma?
-- Dan, Tyler, Texas
I'll admit, A&M is one of those teams I'm instinctively inclined to dismiss relative to general expectations due to its long history of not achieving said expectations. So I was skeptical when I saw the Aggies popping up in the early preseason top 10 rankings. But in researching the Big 12 more closely, I have to say: A&M is stacked. While Oklahoma figures to have the most all-conference and All-America-caliber players, A&M is not that far behind. Mike Sherman's team has the conference's most proven running back (Cyrus Gray), an elite receiver (Jeff Fuller), two sophomore offensive linemen (tackles Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews) who began blossoming into future stars last season, a standout defensive end (Tony Herod-Eddie), a dynamic cornerback/kick returner (Coryell Judie) and one of the league's top safeties (Trent Hunter).
Still, it's possible the Aggies could field a better team and not improve on last year's 9-4 mark. The 2010 team got hot (six straight wins) but overachieved. A&M finished 24th in Football Outsiders' efficiency ratings -- just behind Pittsburgh and N.C. State -- which means it caught some breaks. If the Aggies play to their potential, they can beat everyone on their schedule (including Arkansas) outside of Oklahoma (which doesn't lose at home), but I could easily see a couple close games going the other way and the final ledger looking the same as 2010's.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... z1S0YwNjq3
-- Dan, Tyler, Texas
I'll admit, A&M is one of those teams I'm instinctively inclined to dismiss relative to general expectations due to its long history of not achieving said expectations. So I was skeptical when I saw the Aggies popping up in the early preseason top 10 rankings. But in researching the Big 12 more closely, I have to say: A&M is stacked. While Oklahoma figures to have the most all-conference and All-America-caliber players, A&M is not that far behind. Mike Sherman's team has the conference's most proven running back (Cyrus Gray), an elite receiver (Jeff Fuller), two sophomore offensive linemen (tackles Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews) who began blossoming into future stars last season, a standout defensive end (Tony Herod-Eddie), a dynamic cornerback/kick returner (Coryell Judie) and one of the league's top safeties (Trent Hunter).
Still, it's possible the Aggies could field a better team and not improve on last year's 9-4 mark. The 2010 team got hot (six straight wins) but overachieved. A&M finished 24th in Football Outsiders' efficiency ratings -- just behind Pittsburgh and N.C. State -- which means it caught some breaks. If the Aggies play to their potential, they can beat everyone on their schedule (including Arkansas) outside of Oklahoma (which doesn't lose at home), but I could easily see a couple close games going the other way and the final ledger looking the same as 2010's.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... z1S0YwNjq3