In the eighth installment of our wild blind dart-throwing predictions, we travel to the land of creepy male cheerleaders in overalls and crew cuts making bad jokes that even your dad wouldn’t tell.
WEEK 8, OCT 24: TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Coach: Mike Elko (19–7, SEC 12–4 in seasons at TAMU)
2025 record: 11–2 (7–1 in SEC, CFP First Round loss to Miami-FL)
CB969 2025 Prediction: N/A; Alabama has not played A&M since 2023.
History: As members of the now-defunct SEC West, Alabama and Texas A&M used to meet every fall. The Crimson Tide holds a 13-3 advantage over the Aggies all-time. The last A&M won came in 2021 when Zach Calzada had his Stephen Garcia moment.
Looking back: After a couple of cupcake warm-up games, the Aggies went into South Bend and handed Notre Dame a 41–40 defeat on a TD with 13 ticks remaining on the clock. Maybe they were a little too full of themselves since they followed that game up by almost losing at home to Auburn 16-10. MSU and Florida were no problem, but the Aggs eked out a 3-point win at Arky. Road wins at LSU and Mizzou were impressive but then came the infamous South Carolina game in which the Gamecocks blew a 30-3 halftime lead in College Station. After a cupcake, Texas ended Texas A&M’s perfect season and knocked them out of SEC title game. The season ended in an end zone interception with 24 seconds left in an ugly 10-3 CFP loss to the Hurricanes.
Returning starters: 5* on offense, 4 on defense, punter
* WR Isaiah Horton and OL Wilkin Formby were starters for Bama.
Key losses: Offensive coordinator Collin Klein was hired as the head coach at Kansas State. Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman would be hired to the same position at Kentucky.
Texas A&M lost a record ten players to the NFL Draft: Leading receiver and scorer WR KC Concepcion (1st round, Browns), G Chase Bisontis (2nd round, Arizona), DE Cashius Howell (2nd round, Bengals), TE Nate Boerkircher (2nd round, Jaguars), DT Tyler Onyedim (3rd round, Broncos), DT Albert Regis (3rd round, Jaguars), C Trey Zuhn (3rd round, Raiders), CB Will Lee (4th round, Panthers), T Dametrious Crownover (6th round, Patriots), G Ar’maj Reed-Adams (7th round, Bills). Also gone are injury plagued RB Le’Veon Moss (UDFA), leading tackler LB Taurean York (UDFA). [Of note: TE Amari Niblack is out of eligibility and not currently attached to any NFL team. #LifeChoices]
The Aggies did not lose too much to the Transfer Portal. The most significant are TE Theo Melin Ohrstrom (SMU), EDGE Rylan Kennedy (FSU), EDGE Solomon Williams (Cal), DL Dealyn Evans (Miss. State).
Top returnees: QB Marcel Reed, WR Mario Craver (917 yds, 4 TD), WR Ashton Bethel-Roman (503 yds, 5 TD), 1st team All-SEC FS Marcus Ratcliffe, SS Dalton Brooks, WLB Daymion Sanford, CB Dezz Ricks, leading rusher Rueben Owens (639 yds, 5 TD), C Mark Nabou, KR Terry Bussey
Top newcomers: Former Alabama WR coach Holmon Wiggins was made co-OC/WR coach at TAMU in 2024. He was promoted to offensive coordinator with Klein’s departure. Some guy named Lyle Hemphill is the new defensive coordinator.
TAMU did not pick up any new marquee players from the TP either. Instead, they got pieces: WR Isaiah Horton (Mia>Ala) RT Wilkin Formby (Alabama), MLB Ray Coney (Tulsa; 41 solo, 87 asst, 2 sack), NT CJ Mims (ECU>UNC; 20 solo, 22 asst, 2 sack), DE Anto Saka (Northwestern), LT Tyree Adams (LSU), LG Coen Echols (LSU), RG Trovon Baugh (South Carolina), CB Rickey Gibson (Tennessee).
Strengths: Defense is always pretty good at Texas A&M but the new DC doesn’t make me quake in my boots… Despite losing Concepcion, the starting WRs are solid… Marcel Reed is probably the most experienced quarterbacks in the SEC and can be dynamic at times, but…
Weaknesses: Reed can be inconsistent and disappear at times… After losing four OL to the NFL, the Aggs are patching together a line with other SEC castoffs… After Rueben Owens, there is a steep drop-off at running back… TAMU was -9 in turnover margin – 120th in the nation. They collected only three interceptions over 13 games. Only Cincinnati (2) was lower in FBS. That said, they return three starters in the secondary and promote two others from within… Front seven is meh and pass rush is not great…
Outlook: Say what you will about Jimbo Fisher, but he left College Station with a stocked arsenal upon his exit after the 2023 season. Elko profited from all that talent last season with the first Aggies double-digit win season since Kevin Sumlin’s inaugural TAMU campaign in 2012. He also saw his Aggs into the College Football Playoff, but they had a rough go of it in that home game. Can Elko get back to the CFP this December?
ODDS
- 8.5 Win Total per FanDuel
- Bama is favored by 2.5 per DraftKings.
2026 TAMU SCHEDULE:
- Sat, Sep 5 vs Missouri State – W
- Sat, Sep 12 vs Arizona State – W
- Sat, Sep 19 vs Kentucky – W
- Sat, Sep 26 @ LSU – L
- Sat, Oct 3 vs Arkansas – W
- Sat, Oct 10 @ Missouri – W
- Sat, Oct 17 vs The Citadel – W
- Sat, Oct 24 @ Alabama – L – The Tide better be careful here.
- Sat, Oct 31 bye
- Sat, Nov 7 @ South Carolina – W – Possible toss up.
- Sat, Nov 14 vs Tennessee – W – Don’t get caught looking ahead.
- Sat, Nov 21 @ Oklahoma – L
- Fri, Nov 27 vs Texas – L
PREVIOUS 2026 ALABAMA SCHEDULE PREVIEWS:
- Sat, Sep 5 vs East Carolina
- Sat, Sep 12 @ Kentucky
- Sat, Sep 19 vs Florida State
- Sat, Sep 26 vs South Carolina
- Sat, Oct 3 @ Mississippi State
- Sat, Oct 10 vs Georgia
- Sat, Oct 17 @ Tennessee
- Sat, Oct 24 vs Texas A&M
- Sat, Oct 31 – Happy 75th Birthday, Nick!
- Sat, Nov 7 @ LSU
- Sat, Nov 14 @ Vanderbilt
- Sat, Nov 21 vs Chattanooga
- Sat, Nov 28 vs Auburn